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Deepseawaters
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ArticlesPetroleum(Oil)
In Sea
Petroleum(Oil) In Sea
 How Was Oil Formed?
Where Do We Get Our Oil?
What Fuels Are Made From Crude Oil? - gasoline, diesel, & propane
How Does Oil Impact The Environment?
How Was Oil Formed?
Oil
was formed from the remains of animals and plants that lived
millions of years ago in a marine (water) environment
before the dinosaurs. Over the years, the remains were covered
by layers of mud. Heat and pressure from these layers helped
the remains turn into what we today call crude oil . The word
"petroleum" means "rock oil" or "oil from
the earth."
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Where Do We Get Our Oil?
Crude
oil
is a smelly, yellow-to-black liquid and is usually found in
underground areas called reservoirs. Scientists and engineers
explore a chosen area by studying rock samples from the earth.
Measurements are taken, and, if the site seems promising,
drilling begins. Above the hole, a structure called a 'derrick'
is built to house the tools and pipes going into the well.
When finished, the drilled well will bring a steady flow of
oil to the surface.
The world's top
five crude oil-producing countries are:
Saudi Arabia
Russia
United States
Iran
China
Over one-fourth of the crude oil produced in the United States
is produced offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. The top crude oil-producing
states are:
Texas
Alaska
California
Louisiana
Oklahoma
The
amount of crude oil produced (domestically) in the United
States has been getting smaller each year. However, the use
of products made from crude oil has been growing, making it
necessary to bring more oil from other countries. About 58
percent of the crude oil and petroleum products used in the
United States comes from other countries.
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What Fuels Are Made From Crude Oil?
 After
crude oil is removed from the ground, it is sent to a refinery
by pipeline, ship or barge. At a refinery, different parts
of the crude oil are separated into useable petroleum products.
Crude oil is measured in barrels (abbreviated "bbls"). A 42-U.S.
gallon barrel of crude oil provides slightly more than 44
gallons of petroleum products. This gain from processing the
crude oil is similar to what happens to popcorn, it gets bigger
after it is popped.
 One
barrel of crude oil, when refined, produces about 20 gallons
of finished motor gasoline, and 7 gallons of diesel, as well
as other petroleum products. Most of the petroleum products
are used to produce energy. For instance, many people across
the United States use propane to heat their homes and fuel
their cars. Other products made from petroleum include: ink,
crayons, bubble gum, dishwashing liquids, deodorant, eyeglasses,
records, tires, ammonia, and heart valves.
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How Does Oil Impact The Environment?
Products
from oil (petroleum products) help us do many things. We use
them to fuel our airplanes, cars, and trucks, to heat our
homes, and to make products like medicines and plastics. Even
though petroleum products make life easier - finding, producing,
moving, and using them can cause problems for our environment
like air and water pollution. Over the years, new technologies
and laws have helped to reduce problems related to petroleum
products. As with any industry, the government monitors how
oil is produced, refined, stored, and sent to market to reduce
the impact on the environment. Since 1990, fuels like gasoline
and diesel fuel have also been improved so that they produce
less pollution when we use them.
Exploring
and drilling for oil may disturb land and ocean habitats.
New technologies have greatly reduced the number and size
of areas disturbed by drilling, sometimes called "footprints."
Satellites, global positioning systems, remote sensing devices,
and 3-D and 4-D seismic technologies, make it possible to
discover oil reserves while drilling fewer wells. Plus, the
use of horizontal and directional drilling make it possible
for a single well to produce oil from much bigger areas. Today's
production footprints are only about one-fourth the size of
those 30 years ago, due to the development of movable drilling
rigs and smaller "slimhole" drilling rigs. When the oil in
a well is gone, the well must be plugged below ground, making
it hard to tell that it was ever there. As part of the "rig-to-reefs"
program, some old offshore rigs are toppled and left on the
sea floor to become artificial reefs that attract fish and
other marine life. Within six months to a
year after a rig is toppled, it becomes covered with barnacles,
coral, sponges, clams, and other sea creatures.
If
oil is spilled into rivers or oceans it can harm wildlife.When
we talk about "oil spills" people usually think about oil
that leaks from ships when they crash. Although this type
of spill can cause the biggest shock to wildlife because so
much oil is released at one time, only 2 percent of all oil
in the sea comes from ship or barge spills. The amount of
oil spilled from ships dropped a lot during the 1990's partly
because new ships were required to have a "double-hull" lining
to protect against spills. While oil spills from ships are
the most well-known problem with oil, more oil actually gets
into water from natural oil seeps coming from the ocean floor.
Or, from leaks that happen when we use petroleum products
on land. For example, gasoline that sometimes drips onto the
ground when people are filling their gas tanks, motor oil
that gets thrown away after an oil change, or fuel that escapes
from a leaky storage tank. When it rains, the spilled products
get washed into the gutter and eventually go to rivers and
the ocean. Another way that oil sometimes gets into water
is when fuel is leaked from motorboats and jet skis.
A
refinery is a factory where crude oil is processed into petroleum
products. Because many different pollutants can escape from
refineries into the air, the government monitors refineries
and other factories to make sure that they meet environmental
standards.
When
a leak in a storage tank or pipeline occurs, petroleum products
can also get into the ground, and the ground must be cleaned
up. To prevent leaks from underground storage tanks, all buried
tanks are supposed to be replaced by tanks with a double-lining.
This hasn't happened everywhere yet. In some places where
gasoline leaked from storage tanks, one of the gasoline ingredients
called methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE)
made its way into local water supplies. Since MTBE made water
taste bad and many people were worried about drinking it,
a number of states banned the use of MTBE in gasoline, and
the refining industry voluntarily moved away from using it
when blending reformulated gasoline.
Gasoline
is used in cars, diesel fuel is used in trucks, and heating
oil is used to heat our homes. When petroleum products are
burned as fuel, they give off carbon dioxide, a greenhouse
gas that is linked with global warming. The use of
petroleum products also gives off pollutants - carbon monoxide,
nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and unburned hydrocarbons
- that help form air pollution. Since a lot of air pollution
comes from cars and trucks, many environmental laws have been
aimed at changing the make-up of gasoline and diesel fuel
so that they produce fewer emissions. These "reformulated
fuels" are much cleaner-burning than gasoline and diesel fuel
were in 1990. In the next few years, the amount of sulfur
contained in gasoline and diesel fuel will be reduced dramatically
so that they can be used with new, less-polluting engine technology.
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