Petroleum

BAESI workshop

6 December 2008

2. Petroleum

L.A. smog

plus invisible GHGs

hief source: combustion of petroleum products

Petroleum has been used by humans for millennia, originally for fires and warfare. In the Middle East, oil fields were exploited for naptha, tar, and kerosene in the 8th to 12th centuries.  These early users depended on seeps (like this modern one), where petroleum rises naturally because of subsurface pressure. Beverly Hillbillies theme

Coal was still the major fuel source in the world until about 1940, when petroleum passed it and became the most valuable commodity in the global marketplace.

 The demand for petroleum on the world market grew slowly, but started to take off in the 1800s. Whale oil was replaced by kerosene lamps starting around 1860.

Petroleum: a thick, flammable, yellow-to-black mixture of solid, liquid, and gaseous hydrocarbons that occurs naturally beneath the Earth's surface.

Hydrocarbons : organic compounds consisting of H Solids and C (e.g. paraffin) are not abundant, but have many uses

Liquids

Gases

propanemethane Crude  g a s   n  i   s  t  p l e   o  r butane  d   d  i  u oil  l  iq   r   n  g   e    i pentane    t   s    f   s   a Condensate   e   c   r  o Natural Gas Liquids   p Natural (NGLs) Gas

Crude oil

(aka “oil”)

* Liquid mixture of naturally occurring hydrocarbons * After refining: the chief source of  transportation fuels

Natural gas

* Gaseous mixture of naturally occurring * After processing: used for power generation, hydrocarbons residential, fertilizers, manufacturing, transportation (still very limited)

Combustion (burning) of hydrocarbons releases carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere In words: Fuel + Oxygen

Carbon dioxide + Water + Heat

 The general equation: CxHy + (x + y/4)O2

xCO2 + (y/2)H2O

E.g., for propane: C3H8 + 5O2

3CO2 + 4H2O

Fractional distillation in a refinery very schematic cartoon

gases naptha gasoline

kerosene

L.A. oil refinery

diesel lubricants fuel oil residue

Natural gas Almost always a mixture of  gases; to be used as a fuel, extensive processing is required to produce pure methane.

PetrochemicalsChemicals produced from petroleum

“Plastics.”

The Graduate

1967

ALL PLASTICS are petrochemicals.

polystyrene

epoxies

polycarbonate, etc.

PVC

solvents

Polyester: The most widely used artificial fiber in the U.S. — apparel & home furnishings, plus bottles, fiberglass, LCDs, holograms, filters, insulators, auto body parts, and more.

Other synthetic fibers, such as acrylics & dacron: clothing, yarn, rugs, rope, sails, grafts, containers, resins, etc.

Nylon

Apparel, carpets, musical strings, fishing line, racket strings, rope, auto parts, machine parts, sutures

More uses dyes

MTBE

phenols (antiseptics) packaging eyeglass lenses  TNT rubbing alcohol synthetic rubber

vinyl auto parts

drugs

detergents riot shields sterilizers (food & medical supplies

  The inescapable fact: Modern developed societies depend on petroleum in innumerable ways. We are a petroleum-dependent society. “No civilization can survive the destruction of its resource base.” Bruce Sterling

Also see Jared Diamond’s Collapse and  Joseph Tainter’s Collapse of Complex Societies

“The foundation of modern society” “The lifeblood of modern civilization” “The Prize” 20th century = “The Oil Century”

Petroleum is a non-renewable resource that took millions of years to form. Our use of it has been unsustainable.

1858 North America’s first oil wells 1860 World’s first integrated oil company

Petrolia, Ontario  Titusville, PA 1859 First U.S. drilling rig 1860–1900 “Oil boom” trained drillers who later dispersed around the planet: U.S., Middle East, South America, etc.

Make lists of the top 5 countries: Oil production to date (since ~1860)

USA Current (2007) rate of  FSU oil production KSA KSA Remaining Iran oil reserves FSU Venezuela KSA USA Iraq Iran Iran China FSU = former Soviet Kuwait Union KSA = Kingdom of Saudi UAE/Venez

UAE Arabia = United Arab Emirates

 The unequal distribution of petroleum triggered many military and other strategic decisions over the last century. Early 1900s: Britain converted its fleet from coal to oil; dependence on Middle East oil; long-term involvement there Events before and during World War II starting in World War 1. * 1930s: Japan imports ~80% of its oil from the USA, and ~18% from Dutch East Indies (Indonesia). * 1937: Japan invades China, initiating war between them. * Aug 1941: U.S. oil embargo vs. Japan, which has 1.5 years of oil reserves. * Dec 1941: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, simultaneously invades Dutch East Indies (Indonesia); first targets: oil fields and refineries. *Germany’s North Africa campaign part of the Axis plan to control the Suez canal and Middle East oil supplies.

U.S. strategy after WWII: U.S. production supported the Allied effort throughout WWII, but dwindling reserves encouraged administrations (starting w/FDR) to look internationally….chiefly to the Middle East. Iran 1953: The U.S. (via CIA) and U.K. organized the overthrow of Iran’s elected prime minister, who had recently nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (which became British Petroleum (BP) in 1954). 1991 Gulf War: After Iraq invaded oil-rich Kuwait, the U.S. spearheaded the “liberation” of Kuwait and the defense of  oil-richer KSA.  The 2003 invasion of Iraq: Purportedly to eliminate weapons of mass destruction etc. Recommended book: Michael Klare, Blood and Oil (2004).

B A

D C

E

KSA Iran Iraq

Caspian Sea Mediterranean Sea Persian Gulf 

Red Sea  n  e  d A  f  o  l f

Iran

Iraq Kuwait

Kingdom of Qatar UAE Saudi Arabia

   n    a    m    O

 n  e  m   Y e

 The Middle East contains 45–60% of the world’s petroleum reserves.

Ghawar

Ghawar: perhaps the most important place you’ve never heard of  * World’s largest oil field * 60-65% of KSA production to date * 6% of global production to da * 6% of modern production

How to Make Exploitable Petroleum 1. Start with lots of source rock, such as shale containing organic material that has not been oxidized (not very common). 2. Heat the source rock to 60°–120°C (for oil) or 120°–220°C (for gas). Do not overcook. Will take millions of years. 3. Place a reservoir rock above the source rock.  The petroleum will rise because of its low density, so you need a porous (and preferably permeable) rock to hold it. 4. Ensure that the reservoir has a suitable trap—a subsurface geologic structure that will hold (“trap”) petroleum in the reservoir rock, preventing its slow migration to the surface.

Pores are open spaces between the particles of a rock. Pores may contain air, gas, or liquid (water or oil).  The more pore space, the higher the porosity.

 The more “connected” the pores, the higher the permeability. Pore fluids will flow more easily in rocks that are more permeable.

Cartoon of a vertical slice through the crust showing traps in reservoir rocks where petroleum and water typically accumulate.

Color code:Rock Natural Gas Oil

Water

 Typical E&P (exploration and production) Gas released during extraction is valuable but steps Explore, using dumb luck (Jed); geologic mapping (late 1800s); must be trapped and standard geophysical tools (1930s); high-tech tools (1990s). processed; for decades, it was simply flared off. Drill a test well. If the petroleum is trapped and under pressure, it will rise naturally; no pumping needed (Jed, early Saudi Arabia).

 This is the “primary recovery” phase—free-flowing petroleum.

 Typical E&P steps, part 2 Primary recovery lasts for several months or years. As the pressure drops, flow slows and operators must use “secondary recovery” techniques for to recover petroleum. The most common technique: injection of water or gas. Injection well

water forced downward

Production well petroleum rises

water enters pores, raises pressure; “sweeps” petroleum in front of it

 Typical E&P steps, part 3 Water injection also is used to increase production, but usually leads to a quicker reservoir decline and less total production. Injected water produces problems with corrosion, scaling, treatment prior to disposal; requires costly processing and replacement of parts. “ Tertiary recovery” techniques may be used once the injection techniques are ineffective. However, they’re expensive, and thus feasible only if the price of petroleum is high....

Production history of an oil field

Primary

 Tertiary Secondary

M. King Hubbert and “Peak Oil” Peak Oil:  The maximum sustainable production rate of petroleum for an area (e.g., a field, a country, or the world). M. King Hubbert (U.S. geologist) predicted that production rate for any well, field, or region will resemble a bell curve.  The peak of such a curve is known as Hubbert’s Peak. Peak Oil does NOT mean “running out of  oil.”

Hubbert’s prediction for U.S. peak oil: ~1970 Actual date of U.S. peak oil: 1970 (curve shape differs from his prediction due to Alaska discoveries)

w/Alaska peak in 1970 U.S. productionlower 48

Hubbert’s prediction for global peak oil: ~2000