Petroleum[a] is a naturally occurring yellowish-blackliquid mixture. It consists mainly ofhydrocarbons,[1] and is found ingeological formations. The termpetroleum refers both to naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil, as well as topetroleum products that consist of refined crude oil.
Once extracted, oil is refined and separated, most easily bydistillation, into innumerable products for direct use or use in manufacturing. Products include fuels such asgasoline (petrol),diesel,kerosene andjet fuel;asphalt andlubricants; chemicalreagents used to makeplastics;solvents,textiles,refrigerants,paint,synthetic rubber,fertilizers,pesticides,pharmaceuticals, and thousands of others. Petroleum is used in manufacturing a vast variety of materials essential for modern life,[2] and it is estimated that the world consumes about 100 millionbarrels (16 millioncubic metres) each day. Petroleum production played a key role in industrialization and economic development.[3] Some countries, known aspetrostates, gained significant economic and international power over their control of oil production and trade.
The wordpetroleum comes from Medieval Latinpetroleum (literally 'rock oil'), which comes from Latinpetra 'rock' (from Greekpétraπέτρα) andoleum 'oil' (from Greekélaionἔλαιον).[6][7]
The origin of the term stems from monasteries in southern Italy where it was in use by the end of the first millennium as an alternative for the older term "naphtha".[8] After that, the term was used in numerous manuscripts and books, such as in the treatiseDe Natura Fossilium, published in 1546 by the German mineralogistGeorg Bauer, also known as Georgius Agricola.[9] After the advent of the oil industry, during the second half of the 19th century, the term became commonly known for the liquid form of hydrocarbons.
Petroleum, in one form or another, has been used since ancient times. More than 4300 years ago,bitumen was mentioned when the Sumerians used it to make boats. A tablet of the legend of the birth ofSargon of Akkad mentions a basket which was closed by straw and bitumen. More than 4000 years ago, according toHerodotus andDiodorus Siculus,asphalt was used in the construction of the walls and towers ofBabylon; there were oil pits near Ardericca and Babylon, and a pitch spring onZakynthos.[10] Great quantities of it were found on the banks of the riverIssus, one of the tributaries of theEuphrates. AncientPersiantablets indicate the medicinal and lighting uses of petroleum in the upper levels of their society.
The use of petroleum in ancientChina dates back to more than 2000 years ago. TheI Ching, one of the earliest Chinese writings, cites that oil in its raw state, without refining, was first discovered, extracted, and used in China in the first century BCE.[clarification needed] In addition, the Chinese were the first to record the use of petroleum as fuel as early as the fourth century BCE.[11][12][13] By 347 CE, oil was produced from bamboo-drilled wells in China.[14][15]
In the 7th century, petroleum was among the essential ingredients forGreek fire, an incendiary projectile weapon that was used byByzantine Greeks against Arab ships, which were then attackingConstantinople.[16] Crude oil was also distilled byPersian chemists, with clear descriptions given in Arabic handbooks such as those ofAbu Bakr al-Razi (Rhazes).[17] The streets ofBaghdad were paved withtar, derived from petroleum that became accessible from natural fields in the region.
In the 9th century,oil fields were exploited in the area around modernBaku,Azerbaijan. These fields were described by thePersian geographerAbu Bakr al-Razi in the 10th century, and byMarco Polo in the 13th century, who described the output of those wells as hundreds of shiploads.[18]Arab and Persian chemists also distilled crude oil to produceflammable products for military purposes. ThroughIslamic Spain, distillation became available inWestern Europe by the 12th century.[19] It has also been present in Romania since the 13th century, being recorded as păcură.[20]
Early British explorers toMyanmar documented a flourishing oil extraction industry based inYenangyaung that, in 1795, had hundreds of hand-dug wells under production.[22]
Merkwiller-Pechelbronn is said to be the first European site where petroleum has been explored and used. The still active Erdpechquelle, a spring where petroleum appears mixed with water has been used since 1498, notably for medical purposes.
There was activity in various parts of the world in the mid-19th century. A group directed by Major Alexeyev of the Bakinskii Corps of Mining Engineers hand-drilled a well in the Baku region of Bibi-Heybat in 1846.[23] There were engine-drilled wells in West Virginia in 1859, the same year as Drake's well.[24] An early commercial well was hand dug inPoland in 1853, and another in nearbyRomania in 1857. At around the same time the world's first, small, oil refinery was opened atJasło in Poland (then Austria), with a larger one opened atPloiești in Romania shortly after. Romania (then being a vassal of the Ottoman Empire) is the first country in the world to have had its annual crude oil output officially recorded in international statistics: 275 tonnes for 1857.[25][26]
In 1858, Georg Christian Konrad Hunäus found a significant amount of petroleum while drilling forlignite inWietze, Germany. Wietze later provided about 80% of German consumption in the Wilhelmine Era.[27] The production stopped in 1963, but Wietze has hosted a Petroleum Museum since 1970.[28]
Oil sands have been mined since the 18th century.[29] InWietze in lower Saxony, natural asphalt/bitumen has been explored since the 18th century.[30] Both in Pechelbronn as in Wietze, the coal industry dominated the petroleum technologies.[31]
ChemistJames Young in 1847 noticed a natural petroleum seepage in the coal mine at riddingsAlfreton,Derbyshire from which he distilled a light thin oil suitable for use as lamp oil, at the same time obtaining a more viscous oil suitable for lubricating machinery. In 1848, Young set up a small business refining crude oil.[32]
Young eventually succeeded, by distillingcannel coal at low heat, in creating a fluid resembling petroleum, which when treated in the same way as the seep oil gave similar products. Young found that by slow distillation he could obtain several useful liquids from it, one of which he named "paraffine oil" because at low temperatures it congealed into a substance resembling paraffin wax.[32]
The production of these oils and solidparaffin wax from coal formed the subject of his patent dated October 17, 1850. In 1850, Young & Meldrum and Edward William Binney entered into partnership under the title of E.W. Binney & Co. atBathgate inWest Lothian and E. Meldrum & Co. at Glasgow; their works at Bathgate were completed in 1851 and became the first truly commercial oil-works in the world with the first modern oil refinery.[33][clarification needed]
The world's first oil refinery was built in 1856 byIgnacy Łukasiewicz in Austria.[34] His achievements also included the discovery of how to distill kerosene from seep oil, the invention of the modernkerosene lamp (1853), the introduction of the first modern street lamp in Europe (1853), and the construction of the world's first modernoil "mine" (1854).[35] atBóbrka, nearKrosno (still operational as of 2020).
The demand for petroleum as a fuel for lighting inNorth America and around the world quickly grew.[36]
The first oil well in the Americas was drilled in 1859 byEdwin Drake at what is now called theDrake Well inCherrytree Township, Pennsylvania. There also was a company associated with it, and it sparked a major oil drilling boom.[37]
Thefirst commercial oil well inCanada became operational in 1858 atOil Springs, Ontario (thenCanada West).[38] BusinessmanJames Miller Williams dug several wells between 1855 and 1858 before discovering a rich reserve of oil four metres below ground.[39][specify] Williams extracted 1.5 million litres of crude oil by 1860, refining much of it into kerosene lamp oil. Williams's well became commercially viable a year before Drake's Pennsylvania operation and could be argued to be the first commercial oil well in North America.[40] The discovery at Oil Springs touched off anoil boom which brought hundreds of speculators and workers to the area. Advances in drilling continued into 1862 when local driller Shaw reached a depth of 62 metres using the spring-pole drilling method.[41] On January 16, 1862, after an explosion ofnatural gas, Canada's first oil gusher came into production, shooting into the air at a recorded rate of 480 cubic metres (3,000 bbl) per day.[42] By the end of the 19th century the Russian Empire, particularly theBranobel company inAzerbaijan, had taken the lead in production.[43]
Access to oil was and still is a major factor in several military conflicts of the 20th century, includingWorld War II, during which oil facilities were a major strategic asset and wereextensively bombed.[44] TheGerman invasion of the Soviet Union included the goal to capture theBaku oilfields, as it would provide much-needed oil supplies for the German military which was suffering from blockades.[45]
Oil exploration in North America during the early 20th century later led to the U.S. becoming the leading producer by mid-century. As petroleum production in the U.S. peaked during the 1960s, the United States was surpassed bySaudi Arabia and theSoviet Union in total output.[46][47][48]
The two oil price shocks had many short- and long-term effects on global politics and the global economy.[50] They led to sustained reductions in demand as a result of substitution to other fuels, especially coal and nuclear, and improvements inenergy efficiency, facilitated by government policies.[51] High oil prices also induced investment in oil production by non-OPEC countries, including Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, the North Sea offshore fields of the United Kingdom and Norway, the Cantarell offshore field of Mexico, and oil sands in Canada.[52]
About 90 percent of vehicular fuel needs are met by oil. Petroleum also makes up 40 percent of total energy consumption in theUnited States, but is responsible for only one percent of electricity generation.[53] Petroleum's worth as a portable, dense energy source powering the vast majority of vehicles and as the base of many industrial chemicals makes it one of the world's most importantcommodities.
About 80 percent of the world's readily accessible reserves are located in theMiddle East, with 62.5 percent coming from the Arab five:Saudi Arabia,United Arab Emirates,Iraq,Qatar, andKuwait. A large portion of the world's total oil exists as unconventional sources, such asbitumen inAthabasca oil sands andextra heavy oil in theOrinoco Belt. While significant volumes of oil are extracted from oil sands, particularly in Canada, logistical and technical hurdles remain, as oil extraction requires large amounts of heat and water, making its net energy content quite low relative to conventional crude oil. Thus, Canada's oil sands are not expected to provide more than a few million barrels per day in the foreseeable future.[56][57][58]
Petroleum consists of a variety of liquid, gaseous, and solid components. Lighter hydrocarbons are the gasesmethane,ethane,propane andbutane. Otherwise, the bulk of the liquid and solids are largely heavier organic compounds, often hydrocarbons (C and H only). The proportion of light hydrocarbons in the petroleum mixture varies amongoil fields.[59]
Anoil well produces predominantly crude oil. Because the pressure is lower at the surface than underground, some of the gas will come out ofsolution and be recovered (or burned) asassociated gas orsolution gas. Agas well produces predominantlynatural gas. However, because the underground temperature is higher than at the surface, the gas may contain heavier hydrocarbons such as pentane,hexane, andheptane ("natural-gas condensate", often shortened tocondensate.) Condensate resembles gasoline in appearance and is similar in composition to somevolatilelight crude oils.[60][61]
The hydrocarbons in crude oil are mostlyalkanes,cycloalkanes and variousaromatic hydrocarbons, while the other organic compounds containnitrogen,oxygen, andsulfur, and traces of metals such as iron, nickel, copper andvanadium. Many oil reservoirs contain live bacteria.[62] The exact molecular composition of crude oil varies widely from formation to formation but the proportion ofchemical elements varies over fairly narrow limits as follows:[63]
Four different types of hydrocarbon appear in crude oil. The relative percentage of each varies from oil to oil, determining the properties of each oil.[59]
The alkanes frompentane (C5H12) tooctane (C8H18) arerefined into gasoline, the ones fromnonane (C9H20) tohexadecane (C16H34) intodiesel fuel,kerosene andjet fuel. Alkanes with more than 16 carbon atoms can be refined intofuel oil andlubricating oil. At the heavier end of the range,paraffin wax is an alkane with approximately 25 carbon atoms, whileasphalt has 35 and up, although these are usuallycracked in modern refineries into more valuable products. The lightest fraction, the so-called petroleum gases are subjected to diverse processing depending on cost. These gases are eitherflared off, sold asliquefied petroleum gas, or used to power the refinery's own burners. During the winter, butane (C4H10), is blended into the gasoline pool at high rates, because its high vapour pressure assists with cold starts.
These different components are separated byfractional distillation at an oil refinery to produce gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, and other hydrocarbon fractions.
The components in an oil sample can be determined bygas chromatography andmass spectrometry.[65] Due to the large number of co-eluted hydrocarbons within oil, many cannot be resolved by traditional gas chromatography. Thisunresolved complex mixture (UCM) of hydrocarbons is particularly apparent when analysing weathered oils and extracts from tissues of organisms exposed to oil.
Crude oil varies greatly in appearance depending on its composition. It is usually black or dark brown (although it may be yellowish, reddish, or even greenish). In the reservoir it is usually found in association with natural gas, which being lighter forms a "gas cap" over the petroleum, andsaline water which, being heavier than most forms of crude oil, generally sinks beneath it. Crude oil may also be found in a semi-solid form mixed with sand and water, as in theAthabasca oil sands in Canada, where it is usually referred to as crudebitumen. In Canada, bitumen is considered a sticky, black, tar-like form of crude oil which is so thick and heavy that it must be heated or diluted before it will flow.[66] Venezuela also has large amounts of oil in theOrinoco oil sands, although the hydrocarbons trapped in them are more fluid than in Canada and are usually calledextra heavy oil. These oil sands resources are calledunconventional oil to distinguish them from oil which can be extracted using traditional oil well methods. Between them, Canada andVenezuela contain an estimated 3.6 trillion barrels (570×10^9 m3) of bitumen and extra-heavy oil, about twice the volume of the world's reserves of conventional oil.[67]
As further layers settled into the sea or lake bed, intense heat and pressure built up in the lower regions. This process caused the organic matter to change, first into a waxy material known askerogen, found in variousoil shales around the world, and then with more heat into liquid and gaseoushydrocarbons via a process known ascatagenesis. Formation of petroleum occurs from hydrocarbonpyrolysis in a variety of mainlyendothermic reactions at high temperatures or pressures, or both.[71][72] These phases are described in detail below.
Somephenolic compounds produced from previous reactions worked asbactericides and theActinomycetales order of bacteria also produced antibiotic compounds (e.g.,streptomycin). Thus the action of anaerobic bacteria ceased at about 10 m below the water or sediment. The mixture at this depth contained fulvic acids, unreacted and partially reacted fats and waxes, slightly modifiedlignin, resins and other hydrocarbons.[71] As more layers of organic matter settled into the sea or lake bed, intense heat and pressure built up in the lower regions.[72] As a consequence, compounds of this mixture began to combine in poorly understood ways tokerogen. Combination happened in a similar fashion asphenol andformaldehyde molecules react tourea-formaldehyde resins, but kerogen formation occurred in a more complex manner due to a bigger variety of reactants. The total process of kerogen formation from the beginning of anaerobic decay is calleddiagenesis, a word that means a transformation of materials by dissolution and recombination of their constituents.[71]
Kerogen formation continued to a depth of about 1km from the Earth's surface where temperatures may reach around 50°C. Kerogen formation represents a halfway point between organic matter andfossil fuels: kerogen can be exposed to oxygen, oxidize and thus be lost, or it could be buried deeper inside theEarth's crust and be subjected to conditions which allow it to slowly transform into fossil fuels like petroleum. The latter happened throughcatagenesis in which the reactions were mostlyradicalrearrangements of kerogen. These reactions took thousands to millions of years and no external reactants were involved. Due to the radical nature of these reactions, kerogen reacted towards two classes of products: those with low H/C ratio (anthracene or products similar to it) and those with high H/C ratio (methane or products similar to it); i.e., carbon-rich or hydrogen-rich products. Because catagenesis was closed off from external reactants, the resulting composition of the fuel mixture was dependent on the composition of the kerogen via reactionstoichiometry. Three types of kerogen exist: type I (algal), II (liptinic) and III (humic), which were formed mainly fromalgae,plankton andwoody plants (this term includestrees,shrubs andlianas) respectively.[71]
Catagenesis waspyrolytic despite the fact that it happened at relatively low temperatures (when compared to commercial pyrolysis plants) of 60 to several hundred °C. Pyrolysis was possible because of the long reaction times involved. Heat for catagenesis came from the decomposition ofradioactive materials of the crust, especially40K,232Th,235U and238U. The heat varied withgeothermal gradient and was typically 10–30 °C per km of depth from the Earth's surface. Unusualmagma intrusions, however, could have created greater localized heating.[71]
Geologists often refer to the temperature range in which oil forms as an"oil window".[73][74][71] Below the minimum temperature oil remains trapped in the form of kerogen. Above the maximum temperature the oil is converted to natural gas through the process ofthermal cracking. Sometimes, oil formed at extreme depths may migrate and become trapped at a much shallower level. TheAthabasca oil sands are one example of this.[71]
An alternative mechanism to the one described above was proposed by Russian scientists in the mid-1850s, the hypothesis ofabiogenic petroleum origin (petroleum formed by inorganic means), but this is contradicted by geological andgeochemical evidence.[75] Abiogenic sources of oil have been found, but never in commercially profitable amounts. "The controversy isn't over whether abiogenic oil reserves exist," said Larry Nation of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. "The controversy is over how much they contribute to Earth's overall reserves and how much time and effort geologists should devote to seeking them out."[76]
Ahydrocarbon trap consists of a reservoir rock (yellow) where oil (red) can accumulate, and a caprock (green) that prevents it from egressing.
Three conditions must be present for oil reservoirs to form:
Asource rock rich inhydrocarbon material buried deeply enough for subterranean heat to cook it into oil,
Aporous andpermeable reservoir rock where it can accumulate,
Acaprock (seal) or other mechanism to prevent the oil from escaping to the surface. Within these reservoirs, fluids will typically organize themselves like a three-layer cake with a layer of water below the oil layer and a layer of gas above it, although the different layers vary in size between reservoirs. Because most hydrocarbons are less dense than rock orwater, they often migrate upward through adjacent rock layers until either reaching the surface or becoming trapped within porous rocks (known asreservoirs) by impermeable rocks above. However, the process is influenced by underground water flows, causing oil to migrate hundreds of kilometres horizontally or even short distances downward before becoming trapped in a reservoir. When hydrocarbons are concentrated in a trap, anoil field forms, from which the liquid can be extracted bydrilling andpumping.
The reactions that produce oil and natural gas are often modeled as first order breakdown reactions, where hydrocarbons are broken down to oil and natural gas by a set of parallel reactions, and oil eventually breaks down to natural gas by another set of reactions. The latter set is regularly used inpetrochemical plants andoil refineries.
Petroleum has mostly been recovered byoil drilling (natural petroleum springs are rare). Drilling is carried out after studies of structural geology (at the reservoir scale), sedimentary basin analysis, and reservoir characterisation (mainly in terms of theporosity andpermeability of geologic reservoir structures).[77][78] Wells are drilled into oil reservoirs to extract the crude oil. "Natural lift" production methods that rely on the natural reservoir pressure to force the oil to the surface are usually sufficient for a while after reservoirs are first tapped. In some reservoirs, such as in the Middle East, the natural pressure is sufficient over a long time. The natural pressure in most reservoirs, however, eventually dissipates. Then the oil must be extracted using "artificial lift" means. Over time, these "primary" methods become less effective and "secondary" production methods may be used. A common secondary method is"waterflood" or injection of water into the reservoir to increase pressure and force the oil to the drilled shaft or "wellbore." Eventually "tertiary" or "enhanced" oil recovery methods may be used to increase the oil's flow characteristics by injecting steam, carbon dioxide and other gases or chemicals into the reservoir. In the United States, primary production methods account for less than 40 percent of the oil produced on a daily basis, secondary methods account for about half, and tertiary recovery the remaining 10 percent. Extracting oil (or "bitumen") from oil/tar sand and oil shale deposits requires mining the sand or shale and heating it in a vessel or retort, or using "in-situ" methods of injecting heated liquids into the deposit and then pumping the liquid back out saturated with oil.
Oil-eating bacteriabiodegrade oil that has escaped to the surface.Oil sands are reservoirs of partially biodegraded oil still in the process of escaping and being biodegraded, but they contain so much migrating oil that, although most of it has escaped, vast amounts are still present—more than can be found in conventional oil reservoirs. The lighter fractions of the crude oil are destroyed first, resulting in reservoirs containing an extremely heavy form of crude oil, called crude bitumen in Canada, or extra-heavy crude oil inVenezuela. These two countries have the world's largest deposits of oil sands.[79]
On the other hand,oil shales are source rocks that have not been exposed to heat or pressure long enough to convert their trapped hydrocarbons into crude oil. Technically speaking, oil shales are not always shales and do not contain oil, but are fined-grain sedimentary rocks containing an insoluble organic solid calledkerogen. The kerogen in the rock can be converted into crude oil using heat and pressure to simulate natural processes. The method has been known for centuries and was patented in 1694 under British Crown Patent No. 330 covering, "A way to extract and make great quantities of pitch, tar, and oil out of a sort of stone." Although oil shales are found in many countries, the United States has the world's largest deposits.[80]
Until today synthetic man-made petroleum hasn't been created as an alternative to traditional petroleum that diminishes with extraction. Three experts are needed to create synthetic oil (petroleum) from sea water apart from the equipment, a geologist a chemist and a petrochemical scientist, synthetic oil also in economical perspective means decreasing poverty levels in society and dangers of prolonged extraction like earthquakes, it also means that energy will be available at much cheaper prices without cuts in supplies, and it also means that countries without oil reserves will be able to produce oil and make profits out of selling it. Synthetic petroleum making is a very easy process that hasn't been done to date.
Thepetroleum industry generally classifies crude oil by the geographic location it is produced in (e.g.,West Texas Intermediate,Brent, orOman), itsAPI gravity (an oil industry measure of density), and its sulfur content. Crude oil may be consideredlight if it has low density,heavy if it has high density, ormedium if it has a density between that oflight andheavy.[81] Additionally, it may be referred to assweet if it contains relatively little sulfur orsour if it contains substantial amounts of sulfur.[82]
The geographic location is important because it affects transportation costs to the refinery.Light crude oil is more desirable thanheavy oil since it produces a higher yield of gasoline, whilesweet oil commands a higher price thansour oil because it has fewer environmental problems and requires less refining to meet sulfur standards imposed on fuels in consuming countries. Each crude oil has unique molecular characteristics which are revealed by the use ofcrude oil assay analysis in petroleum laboratories.[83]
Barrels from an area in which the crude oil's molecular characteristics have been determined and the oil has been classified are used as pricingreferences throughout the world. Some of the common reference crudes are:[84]
There are declining amounts of these benchmark oils being produced each year, so other oils are more commonly what is actually delivered. While the reference price may be for West Texas Intermediate delivered at Cushing, the actual oil being traded may be a discounted Canadian heavy oil – Western Canadian Select – delivered atHardisty,Alberta, and for a Brent Blend delivered at Shetland, it may be a discounted Russian Export Blend delivered at the port ofPrimorsk.[87]
In terms of volume, most petroleum is converted into fuels for combustion engines. In terms of value, petroleum underpins the petrochemical industry, which includes many high value products such as pharmaceuticals and plastics.
Petroleum is used mostly, by volume, for refining intofuel oil and gasoline, both importantprimary energy sources. 84% by volume of the hydrocarbons present in petroleum is converted into fuels, including gasoline, diesel, jet, heating, and other fuel oils, andliquefied petroleum gas.[90]
Due to its highenergy density, easy transportability andrelative abundance, oil has become the world's most important source of energy since the mid-1950s. Petroleum is also the raw material for manychemical products, includingpharmaceuticals,solvents,fertilizers,pesticides, and plastics; the 16 percent not used for energy production is converted into these other materials. Petroleum is found inporousrock formations in the upperstrata of some areas of theEarth's crust. There is also petroleum inoil sands (tar sands). Knownoil reserves are typically estimated at 190 km3 (1.2trillion(short scale)barrels) without oil sands,[91] or 595 km3 (3.74 trillion barrels) with oil sands.[92] Consumption is currently around 84 million barrels (13.4×10^6 m3) per day, or 4.9 km3 per year, yielding a remaining oil supply of only about 120 years, if current demand remains static.[93] More recent studies, however, put the number at around 50 years.[94][95]
Closely related to fuels for combustion engines areLubricants,greases, andviscosity stabilizers. All are derived from petroleum.
Manypharmaceuticals are derived from petroleum, albeit via multistep processes.[citation needed] Modern medicine depends on petroleum as a source of building blocks,reagents, andsolvents.[96] Similarly, virtually all pesticides - insecticides, herbicides, etc. - are derived from petroleum. Pesticides have profoundly affected life expectancies by controlling disease vectors and by increasing yields of crops. Like pharmaceuticals, pesticides are in essence petrochemicals. Almost all plastics and synthetic polymers are derived from petroleum, which is the source of monomers.Alkenes (olefins) are one important class of these precursor molecules.
Sulfur and its derivativesulfuric acid. Hydrogen sulfide is a product ofsulfur removal from petroleum fraction. It is oxidized to elemental sulfur and then to sulfuric acid.
Petroleum is vital to many industries, and is necessary for the maintenance of industrialcivilization in its current configuration, making it a critical concern for many nations. Oil accounts for a large percentage of the world'senergy consumption, ranging from a low of 32% for Europe and Asia, to a high of 53% for the Middle East.
Other geographic regions' consumption patterns are as follows:South andCentral America (44%),Africa (41%), andNorth America (40%). The world consumes 36 billionbarrels (5.8 km3) of oil per year,[98] withdeveloped nations being the largest consumers. TheUnited States consumed 18% of the oil produced in 2015.[99] The production, distribution, refining, and retailing of petroleum taken as a whole represents the world's largest industry in terms of dollar value.
Oil train nearLa Crosse, WisconsinPetroleum transport is the transportation of petroleum and derivatives such as gasoline (petrol).[100] Petroleum products are transported via rail cars, trucks, tanker vessels, and pipeline networks. The method used to move the petroleum products depends on the volume that is being moved and its destination. Even the modes of transportation on land such as pipeline or rail have their own strengths and weaknesses. One of the key differences are the costs associated with transporting petroleum though pipeline or rail. The biggest problems with moving petroleum products are pollution related and the chance of spillage. Petroleum oil is very hard to clean up and is very toxic to living animals and their surroundings.
In the 1950s, shipping costs made up 33 percent of the price of oil transported from thePersian Gulf to the United States,[101] but due to the development ofsupertankers in the 1970s, the cost of shipping dropped to only 5 percent of the price of Persian oil in the US.[101] Due to the increase in the value of crude oil during the last 30 years, the share of the shipping cost on the final cost of the delivered commodity was less than 3% in 2010.
The global price of crude oil was relatively consistent in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century.[104] This changed in the 1970s, with a significant increase in the price of oil globally.[104] There have been a number of structural drivers of global oil prices historically, including oil supply, demand, and storage shocks, and shocks to globaleconomic growth affecting oil prices.[105] Notable events driving significant price fluctuations include the 1973OPEC oilembargo targeting nations that had supported Israel during theYom Kippur War,[106]: 329 resulting in the1973 oil crisis, theIranian Revolution in the1979 oil crisis, thefinancial crisis of 2007–2008, and the more recent 2013oil supply glut that led to the "largest oil price declines in modern history" in 2014 to 2016. The 70% decline in global oil prices was "one of the three biggest declines since World War II, and the longest lasting since the supply-driven collapse of 1986."[107] By 2015, the United States had become the third-largest producer of oil and resumed exporting oil upon repeal of its 40-year export ban.[108][109][110]
The2020 Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war resulted in a 65% decline in global oil prices at the beginning of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[111][112] In 2021, therecord-high energy prices were driven by a global surge in demand as the world recovered from theCOVID-19 recession.[113][114][115] By December 2021, an unexpected rebound in the demand for oil from United States, China and India, coupled with U.S. shale industry investors' "demands to hold the line on spending", has contributed to "tight" oil inventories globally.[116] On 18 January 2022, as the price of Brent crude oil reached its highest since 2014—$88, concerns were raised about the rising cost of gasoline—which hit a record high in the United Kingdom.[117]
Nominal and inflation-adjusted U.S. dollar price of crude oil between 1861 and 2015
Crude oil is traded as a future on both theNYMEX andICE exchanges.[118] Futures contracts are agreements in which buyers and sellers agree to purchase and deliver specific amounts of physical crude oil on a given date in the future. A contract covers any multiple of 1000 barrels and can be purchased up to nine years into the future.[119]
This table orders the amount of petroleum consumed in 2011 in thousandbarrels (1,000 bbl) per day and in thousand cubic metres (1,000 m3) per day:[122][123]
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found onPhabricator and onMediaWiki.org.
2 Canadian statistics are complicated by the fact it is both an importer and exporter of crude oil, and refines large amounts of oil for the U.S. market. It is the leading source of U.S. imports of oil and products, averaging 2,500,000 bbl/d (400,000 m3/d) in August 2007.[129]
Total world production/consumption (as of 2005) is approximately 84 million barrels per day (13,400,000 m3/d).
A diesel fuel spill on a roadSeawater acidification
As of 2018[update], about a quarter of annual globalgreenhouse gas emissions is the carbon dioxide from burning petroleum (plusmethane leaks from the industry).[132][133][b] Along with the burning of coal, petroleum combustion is the largest contributor to the increase in atmospheric CO2.[134][135] Atmospheric CO2 has risen over the last 150 years to current levels of over 415 ppmv,[136] from the180–300 ppmv of the prior 800 thousand years.[137][138][139] The rise in Arctic temperature has reduced the minimumArctic ice pack to 4,320,000 km2 (1,670,000 sq mi), a loss of almost half since satellite measurements started in 1979.[140]
Ocean acidification is the increase in the acidity of the Earth's oceans caused by the uptake ofcarbon dioxide (CO2) from theatmosphere.The saturation state of calcium carbonate decreases with the uptake of carbon dioxide in the ocean.[141] This increase in acidity inhibits all marine life—having a greater effect on smaller organisms as well as shelled organisms (seescallops).[142]
Oil extraction is simply the removal of oil from the reservoir (oil pool). There are many methods on extracting the oil from the reservoirs for example; mechanical shaking,[143] water-in-oil emulsion, andspecialty chemicals calleddemulsifiers that separate the oil from water. Oil extraction is costly and often environmentally damaging. Offshore exploration and extraction of oil disturb the surrounding marine environment.[144]
Oil spills at sea are generally much more damaging than those on land, since they can spread for hundreds of nautical miles in a thinoil slick which can cover beaches with a thin coating of oil. This can kill sea birds, mammals, shellfish, and other organisms it coats. Oil spills on land are more readily containable if a makeshift earth dam can be rapidlybulldozed around the spill site before most of the oil escapes, and land animals can avoid the oil more easily.
Control of oil spills is difficult, requires ad hoc methods, and often a large amount of manpower. The dropping of bombs and incendiary devices from aircraft on theSS Torrey Canyon wreck produced poor results;[145] modern techniques would include pumping the oil from the wreck, like in thePrestige oil spill or theErika oil spill.[146]
Though crude oil is predominantly composed of various hydrocarbons, certain nitrogen heterocyclic compounds, such aspyridine,picoline, andquinoline are reported as contaminants associated with crude oil, as well as facilities processing oil shale or coal, and have also been found at legacywood treatment sites. These compounds have a very high water solubility, and thus tend to dissolve and move with water. Certain naturally occurring bacteria, such asMicrococcus,Arthrobacter, andRhodococcus have been shown to degrade these contaminants.[147]
Because petroleum is a naturally occurring substance, its presence in the environment does not need to be the result of human causes such as accidents and routine activities (seismic exploration,drilling, extraction, refining and combustion). Phenomena such asseeps[148] andtar pits are examples of areas that petroleum affects without man's involvement.
A tarball is a blob of crude oil (not to be confused withtar, which is a human-made product derived from pine trees or refined from petroleum) which has been weathered after floating in the ocean. Tarballs are an aquaticpollutant in most environments, although they can occur naturally, for example in the Santa Barbara Channel of California[149][150] or in the Gulf of Mexico off Texas.[151] Their concentration and features have been used to assess the extent ofoil spills. Their composition can be used to identify their sources of origin,[152][153] and tarballs themselves may be dispersed over long distances by deep sea currents.[150] They are slowly decomposed by bacteria, includingChromobacterium violaceum,Cladosporium resinae,Bacillus submarinus,Micrococcus varians,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,Candida marina andSaccharomyces estuari.[149]
James S. Robbins has argued that the advent of petroleum-refined kerosene saved some species of great whales fromextinction by providing an inexpensive substitute forwhale oil, thus eliminating the economic imperative for open-boatwhaling,[154] but others say that fossil fuels increased whaling with most whales being killed in the 20th century.[155]
In 2018 road transport used 49% of petroleum, aviation 8%, and uses other than energy 17%.[156]Electric vehicles are the main alternative for road transport andbiojet for aviation.[157][158][159] Single-use plastics have a high carbon footprint and may pollute the sea, but as of 2022 the best alternatives are unclear.[160]
Control of petroleum production has been a significant driver of international relations during much of the 20th and 21st centuries.[161] Organizations like OPEC have played an outsized role in international politics. Some historians and commentators have called this the "Age of Oil"[161] With the rise ofrenewable energy and addressingclimate change some commentators expect a realignment of international power away frompetrostates.[citation needed]
"Oil rents" have been described as connected with corruption in political literature.[162] A 2011 study suggested that increases in oil rents increased corruption in countries with heavy government involvement in the production of oil. The study found that increases in oil rents "significantly deteriorates political rights". The investigators say that oil exploitation gave politicians "an incentive to extend civil liberties but reduce political rights in the presence of oil windfalls to evade redistribution and conflict".[163]
Petroleum production has been linked with conflict for many years, leading to thousands of deaths.[164] Petroleum deposits are in hardly any countries around the world; mainly in Russia and some parts of the middle east.[165][166] Conflicts may start when countries refuse to cut oil production in which other countries respond to such actions by increasing their production causing a trade war as experienced during the2020 Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war.[167] Other conflicts start due to countries wanting petroleum resources or other reasons on oil resource territory experienced in theIran–Iraq War.[168]
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC/ˈoʊpɛk/OH-pek) is an organization enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing and oil-dependent countries in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximizeprofit. It was founded on 14 September 1960 inBaghdad by the first five members:Iran,Iraq,Kuwait,Saudi Arabia, andVenezuela. The organization, which currently comprises 12 member countries, accounted for 38 percent ofglobal oil production, according to a 2022 report.[169][170] Additionally, it is estimated that 79.5 percent of the world's proven oil reserves are located within OPEC nations, with theMiddle East alone accounting for 67.2 percent of OPEC's total reserves.[171][172]
In a series of steps in the 1960s and 1970s, OPEC restructured the global system of oil production in favor of oil-producing states and away from anoligopoly of dominant Anglo-American oil firms (the "Seven Sisters").[173] In the 1970s,restrictions in oil production led to a dramatic rise in oil prices with long-lasting and far-reaching consequences for the global economy. Since the 1980s, OPEC has had a limited impact on world oil-supply and oil-price stability, as there is frequent cheating by members on their commitments to one another, and as member commitments reflect what they would do even in the absence of OPEC.[174]
Current OPEC members are[ref] Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, and Qatar are former OPEC members.[177] A larger group called OPEC+, consisting of OPEC members plus other oil-producing countries, formed in late 2016 to exert more control on the global crude oil market.[178] Canada, Egypt, Norway, and Oman are observer states.
This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(February 2021)
World oil production by average barrels per day between 2011 and 2022
Consumption in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries has been abundantly pushed by automobile sector growth. The1985–2003 oil glut even fueled the sales of low fuel economy vehicles inOECD countries. The 2008 economic crisis seems to have had some impact on the sales of such vehicles; still, in 2008 oil consumption showed a small increase.
In 2016 Goldman Sachs predicted lower demand for oil due to emerging economies concerns, especially China.[179] TheBRICS (Brasil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries might also kick in, as China briefly had the largest automobile market in December 2009.[180] In the long term, uncertainties linger; theOPEC believes that the OECD countries will push low consumption policies at some point in the future; when that happens, it will definitely curb oil sales, and both OPEC and theEnergy Information Administration (EIA) kept lowering their 2020 consumption estimates during the past five years.[181] A detailed review ofInternational Energy Agency oil projections have revealed that revisions of world oil production, price and investments have been motivated by a combination of demand and supply factors.[182] All together, Non-OPEC conventional projections have been fairly stable the last 15 years, while downward revisions were mainly allocated to OPEC. Upward revisions are primarily a result of UStight oil.
Production will also face an increasingly complex situation; while OPEC countries still have large reserves at low production prices, newly found reservoirs often lead to higher prices; offshore giants such asTupi, Guara andTiber demand high investments and ever-increasing technological abilities. Subsalt reservoirs such as Tupi were unknown in the twentieth century, mainly because the industry was unable to probe them.Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) techniques (example:DaQing, China[183]) will continue to play a major role in increasing the world's recoverable oil.
The expected availability of petroleum resources has always been around 35 years or even less since the start of the modern exploration. Theoil constant, an insider pun in the German industry, refers to that effect.[184]
A growing number of divestment campaigns from major funds pushed by newer generations who question the sustainability of petroleum may hinder the financing of future oil prospection and production.[185]
Peak oil is a term applied to the projection that future petroleum production, whether for individual oil wells, entire oil fields, whole countries, or worldwide production, will eventually peak and then decline at a similar rate to the rate of increase before the peak as these reserves are exhausted.[citation needed][186] The peak of oil discoveries was in 1965, and oil production per year has surpassed oil discoveries every year since 1980.[187]
It is difficult to predict the oil peak in any given region, due to the lack of knowledge and/or transparency in the accounting of global oil reserves.[188] Based on available production data, proponents have previously predicted the peak for the world to be in the years 1989, 1995, or 1995–2000. Some of these predictions date from before the recession of the early 1980s, and the consequent lowering in global consumption, the effect of which was to delay the date of any peak by several years. Just as the 1971 U.S. peak in oil production was only clearly recognized after the fact, a peak in world production will be difficult to discern until production clearly drops off.[189]
While there has been much focus historically on peak oil supply, the focus is increasingly shifting to peak demand as more countries seek to transition to renewable energy. The GeGaLo index of geopolitical gains and losses assesses how the geopolitical position of 156 countries may change if the world fully transitions to renewable energy resources. Former oil exporters are expected to lose power, while the positions of former oil importers and countries rich in renewable energy resources is expected to strengthen.[190]
This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(May 2022)
Unconventional oil is petroleum produced or extracted using techniques other than the conventional methods. The calculus for peak oil has changed with the introduction ofunconventional production methods. In particular, the combination ofhorizontal drilling andhydraulic fracturing has resulted in a significant increase in production from previously uneconomic plays.[191] Certain rockstrata contain hydrocarbons but have low permeability and are not thick from a vertical perspective. Conventional vertical wells would be unable to economically retrieve these hydrocarbons. Horizontal drilling, extending horizontally through the strata, permits the well to access a much greater volume of the strata. Hydraulic fracturing creates greater permeability and increases hydrocarbon flow to the wellbore.
OnSaturn's largest moon,Titan, lakes of liquid hydrocarbons comprising methane, ethane, propane and other constituents, occur naturally. Data collected by the space probeCassini–Huygens yield an estimate that the visible lakes and seas of Titan contain about 300 times the volume of Earth's proven oil reserves.[192][193] Drilled samples from the surface ofMars taken in 2015 by theCuriosity rover'sMars Science Laboratory have found organic molecules ofbenzene andpropane in 3-billion-year-old rock samples inGale Crater.[194]
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^LeClair, Mark S. (July 8, 2016) [2000]. "The History and Evlauation of Significant commodity Cartels".International Commodity Markets and the Role of Cartels (reprint ed.). Abingdon: Routledge. p. 81.ISBN978-1-315-50088-1. RetrievedJune 11, 2023.OPEC, the most notorious of the modern cartels, functioned effectively for only thirteen years.
^Terhechte, Jörg Philipp (December 1, 2009). "Applying European Competition Law to International Organizations: The Case of OPEC". In Herrmann, Christoph;Terhechte, Jörg Philipp (eds.).European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2010. Heidelberg: Springer Science & Business Media. p. 195.ISBN978-3-540-78883-6. RetrievedJune 11, 2023.[...] the question whether OPEC's activities, those of its member states and those of the state-owned enterprises are protected by the principle of State Immunity is to be answered in accordance with the preconditions set by the UN Convention as an expression of common principles of International law. [...] The crucial question [...] in terms of International law is: 'Is OPEC engaged in commercial activities or not?'
^Cohen, Ariel."OPEC Is Dead, Long Live OPEC+".Forbes.Archived from the original on August 2, 2019. RetrievedAugust 2, 2019.The deal represents the latest successful policy effort by the 24 member supercartel, informally referred to as the 'Vienna Group' or 'OPEC+,' to put their thumb on the scale of global oil markets. And it's a huge thumb indeed. [...] OPEC's 14 members control 35 percent of global oil supplies and 82 percent of proven reserves. With the addition of the 10 Non-OPEC nations, notable among them Russia, Mexico and Kazakhstan, those shares increase to 55 percent and 90 percent respectively. This affords OPEC+ a level of influence over the world economy never seen before.
^U.S. Crude Oil Production Forecast – Analysis of Crude Types(PDF), Washington, DC: U.S. Energy Information Administration, May 28, 2015,archived(PDF) from the original on November 22, 2019, retrievedSeptember 13, 2018,U.S. oil production has grown rapidly in recent years. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, which reflect combined production of crude oil and lease condensate, show a rise from 5.6 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2011 to 7.5 million bbl/d in 2013, and a record 1.2 million bbl/d increase to 8.7 million bbl/d in 2014. Increasing production of light crude oil in low-permeability or tight resource formations in regions like the Bakken, Permian Basin, and Eagle Ford (often referred to as light tight oil) account for nearly all the net growth in U.S. crude oil production. EIA's latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, issued in May 2015, reflects continued production growth in 2015 and 2016, albeit at a slower pace than in 2013 and 2014, with U.S. crude oil production in 2016 forecast to reach 9.2 million bbl/d. Beyond 2016, the Annual Energy Outlook 2015 (AEO2015) projects further production growth, although its pace and duration remains highly uncertain.
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