Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Geology-earthscience
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Geology-earthscience
Petroleum Systems
I. Introduction
This paper covers a very interesting topic for people who are keen on the geological concepts to the discovery of petroleum. The subject matter itself covers research findings on how related areas in petroleum discovery can be appreciated by students in this particular field; more so, by ordinary people who may or may not have a deeper level of understanding and appreciation about the wealth of the earth, particularly on petroleum.
The work required of this paper is not easy. It takes a lot of patience in finding the right mix of materials that would produce the kind of output the student wants to find out and to prove his thoughts about the subject matter. Considering that the subject matter is highly technical, one has to patiently go through the rigors of reading lots of materials, comparing and writing down notes and drawing conclusions for one self. How one appreciates the subject matter and his researched work truly reflects how this paper, as a whole, is well thought about, understood and presented. It is hoped that at the end of this paper, one is able to get the bigger picture about the processes involved in the petroleum system, from its source to trap, and that he can draw for himself, in layman's terms, how processes can be understood by ordinary people.
II. Petroleum
Petroleum "occurs in a liquid phase as crude oil and condensate and in a gaseous phase as natural gas" (Petroleum Geology, 2003). The development of petroleum in gaseous phase is largely dependent on the "kind of source rock from which the petroleum was formed and the physical and thermal environment in which it exists" (Petroleum Geology, 2003). Petroleum is commonly identified as the crude oil, in liquid form, which is found deep below the ground surface around less than 20,000 feet.
Petroleum is "found in sedimentary basins in sedimentary rocks" and for it to develop accumulations it has to meet several conditions, namely: "(1) There must be a source rock, usually high in organic matter, from which petroleum can be generated; (2) There must be a
Imperial Oil ltd. Limited (Esso) is a Canadian public corporation that produces crude oil and natural gas. Currently the headquarters are based out of Calgary, Alberta employing over 5000 people, with Exxon Mobil owning 69.6 percent of the company. Imperial Oil ltd. was previously located in Toronto and has recently moved all main facilities over to the Calgary, Alberta headquarters.1 Esso was incorporated in London, ON in 1880 and became a land mark in the development of crude oil and natural gases.1 Its retail business consists of service stations and "On the Run Express and Tiger Express-brand" convenience stores. Esso also owns a 25% portion of Syncrude, which are the world’s largest oil sands.1
After the Second World War, the world was more interesting in oil than ever before. The conflict itself made the countries of the world realize that oil was a serious factor in the quest for power. From this point in history, oil was considered the driving force behind a successful economy and therefore attaining power. Therefore the quest for oil heightened during and after World War II. In the effort to acquire more oil, many countries began to seek out additional locations to drill and this drove the United States to the Middle East. In late 1943 a man named DeGolyer who was a geologist went on a mission to Saudi Arabia to survey the possibility for oil. His mission there concluded that “the oil in this region is the greatest single prize in all history”. With such a conclusion it is not surprising that the United States began extremely concerned with the oil concessions there.
On January 10th 1901 the discovery of oil at Spindletop would lead to the greatest economy boom the world has ever encountered. The amount of oil that would be discovered across Texas would be more than enough to power America through the next several decades. The effects of having oil would completely change Texas culture, lifestyle, and business tremendously. In the book of Oil In Texas, will prove that America would change completely from agriculture nation to an industrial nation after the discovery of oil in Texas.
This area is known as the Permian Basin. Most of the oil is being produced from rocks
Like most authors that want to inform their audience about a specific topic, Kunstler educates us about the background story, within the first couple chapters, of how oil and fossil fuels became to be in the Industrial Age. He states that our society have basically reached a global peak, meaning that “we have extracted half of all the oil that has ever existed in the world – the half that was the easiest to get, the half that was most economically obtained, the half that was the highest quality and cheapest to refine” (p.24). The other half of the oil that has not been extracted lies under the most impossible places, such as the Arctic or deep under the ocean.
Oil was first discovered in the mid-seventeenth century by Spanish explorers. July of 1543 Spanish explorer Luis de Moscoso saw oil floating on the water in the Galveston Bay (Olien 1). In the beginning there was no market or demand for oil until following the Civil War period, entrepreneurs begin digging wells. The first significant oil discovery in Texas was in 1894 in Navarro County near
In this project we explored the oil industry along the Delaware River, and considered its social, economic, environmental implications in local, regional, global contexts. Clearly the oil industry along the Delaware River has prospered the local, regional, and in some sense global economy. It has also, however, brought about social, environmental issues, positive or negative, directly or indirectly. We are trying to view the oil industry along the Delaware River in a dialectical way, to give the pros and cons, because it is really difficult to make a definite conclusion.
The Pacific Oil Company was formed in 1902 and had been the leader in the manufacturing of a petroleum product Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM). This product was Pacific Oil's major product line and was the main component to the manufacturing of plastics, used in many products. In 1979, Pacific Oil had landed a major contract with reliant and had over the years establish a great working partnership. The Reliant Corporation was one of Pacific’s largest and most valued customers and Pacific Oil Company wanted to renegotiate their current contract with the Reliant Corporation, with the goal of extending before it expired. Pacific’s negotiation team, Jean Fontaine, Marketing Vice President for Europe with Paul Gaudin, Marketing Manager of VCM along with representatives Frederick Hauptmann, Senior Purchasing Manager and Egon Zinnser, Regional VP for European operation from The Reliant Corporation, where to spend nearly two year working through the extension of the contract. In the end, the contract settlement was down to a final item that Pacific was not happy about, that may my then loose the extension altogether.
" Oil is the life blood of our modern industrial society. It fuels the machines and lubricates the wheels of the world’s production. But when that vital resource is out of control, it can destroy marine life and devastate the environment and economy of an entire region…. The plain facts are that the technology of oil-- its extraction, its transport, its refinery and use-- has outpaced laws to control that technology and prevent oil from polluting the environment…" (Max, 1969). Oil in its many forms has become one of the necessities of modern industrial life. Under control, and serving its intended purpose, oil is efficient, versatile, and productive. On the other hand, when oil becomes out of control, it can be one of the most devastating substances in the environment. When spilled in water, it spreads for miles around leaving a black memory behind (Stanley, 1969).
Petroleum seepages, in some form or another have been around since ancient times for boat caulking, road mending, and as medicine, however, the modern petroleum industry was truly born with the first drilled oil well in August 1859 by Edwin L. Drake at Titusville, PA. (Laudon, 347) At first, in the United States, oil production was controlled by small operators but by the late 1870's John D. Rockfeller had purchased most of the nation's refineries-controlling the United States industry. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1911 split Rockfeller's Standard Oil Trust into three smaller companies; today they are known as Mobil, Chevron, and Exxon. (Lynch, 214) Since that time, oil has become a major part of everyone's way of life. Oil is used to provide fuel for automobiles, tractors, trucks, aircraft and ships. Petroleum products are the basic materials used for the manufacture of synthetic fibers for clothing and in plastics, paints, fertilizers, insecticides, soaps, and synthetic rubber etc... (Lynch, 207) Due to this demand, companies are constantly searching for more oil deposits.
finding new ways to drill for oil and also refine it more efficiently to ensure that
In this report I will explain the fuel systems in an automobile. I will cover different parts and how they work. First thing to do is explain how the fuel system works. The purpose of the fuel system is to store and supply fuel to the cylinder chamber where it can be mixed with air then vaporized and burned to produce energy. The fuel, which can be either gas or diesel is stored in a fuel tank. A fuel pump draws the fuel from the gas tank through lines and brings it through a fuel filter. Next it goes to either a carburetor or fuel injector and then delivered to the cylinder chamber for combustion.
Petroleum engineering is the development and exploitation of crude/oil and natural gas. The foundation was established during the 1890s in California. This career was developed to correlate oil- producing zones and water zones from well to prevent large amounts of water from entering oil- produced zones.
The industry is divided into three distinct sectors including the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors. The upstream sector includes the exploration and production of crude oil as well as the exploration and production of natural gas. This sector has experienced the largest amount of deals in terms of mergers and acquisitions, which will be further discuss in section III. The midstream sector involves the transportation of extracted petroleum from the upstream sector through pipelines, rail, barge, truck as well as storage. Finally, the downstream sector connects the end consumers through derived products such as gasoline, liquefied natural gas (LPG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), kerosene (aircrafts), and diesel…
As we have discussed, petroleum, natural gas, and its industries are a major factor in our economy. Oil and natural gas’s history, operations, environmental impacts, and present and future challenges demonstrate the importance of these non-renewable natural resources. The exploration of oil will continue to expand through the study of geoscience, engineering, and most importantly, technology. Midstream, containing the main operations of oil and gas, is improving each year in efficient processes for transporting, refining, and storing oil and gas. Despite the numerous challenges that are faced in the petroleum and gas industry, geologists continue to strive to make their operations safer for the environment, but are these efforts enough to save our planet for our future generations?