Petroleum industry

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(Redirected from
Oil industry
)
"Oil patch" redirects here. For the magazine, see Oil Patch Hotline.

World oil reserves as of 2013

The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of

pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, synthetic fragrances, and plastics. The industry is usually divided into three major components: upstream, midstream, and downstream. Upstream regards exploration and extraction of crude oil, midstream encompasses transportation and storage of crude, and downstream concerns refining crude oil into various end products
.

Petroleum is vital to many industries, and is necessary for the maintenance of industrial civilization in its current configuration, making it a critical concern for many nations. Oil accounts for a large percentage of the world's energy 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 and Central America (44%), Africa (41%), and North America (40%). The world consumes 36 billion barrels (5.8 km3) of oil per year,[1] with developed nations being the largest consumers. The United States consumed 18% of the oil produced in 2015.[2] The production, distribution, refining, and retailing of petroleum taken as a whole represents the world's largest industry in terms of dollar value.

History

Main article: History of the petroleum industry
Oil Field in Baku, Azerbaijan, 1926

Prehistory

Natural oil spring in Korňa, Slovakia.

Petroleum is a naturally occurring liquid found in rock formations. It consists of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds. It is generally accepted that oil is formed mostly from the carbon rich remains of ancient plankton after exposure to heat and pressure in Earth's crust over hundreds of millions of years. Over time, the decayed residue was covered by layers of mud and silt, sinking further down into Earth's crust and preserved there between hot and pressured layers, gradually transforming into oil reservoirs.[3]

Early history

Petroleum in an unrefined state has been utilized by humans for over 5000 years. Oil in general has been used since early human history to keep fires ablaze and in warfare.

Its importance to the

crude oil and used as a lighting and heating fuel, the demand for petroleum increased greatly, and by the early twentieth century had become the most valuable commodity traded on world markets.[4]

Modern history

See also: The Petroleum Trail and Industrial development in the Principality of Wallachia
Oil wells in Boryslav
Galician
oil wells
Net income of the global oil and gas industry reached a record US$4 trillion in 2022.[5]
After recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, energy company profits increased with greater revenues from higher fuel prices resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, falling debt levels, tax write-downs of projects shut down in Russia, and backing off from earlier plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.[6] Record profits sparked public calls for windfall taxes.[6]
World crude oil production from wells (excludes surface-mined oil, such as from Canadian heavy oil sands), 1930–2012
Top oil-producing countries[7]

Batum (Baku-Batum pipeline), completed in 1906, and the 162 km long pipeline to carry oil from Chechnya to the Caspian. The first drilled oil wells in Baku were built in 1871–1872 by Ivan Mirzoev, an Armenian businessman who is referred to as one of the 'founding fathers' of Baku's oil industry.[9][10]

At the turn of the 20th century, Imperial Russia's output of oil, almost entirely from the

Apsheron Peninsula, accounted for half of the world's production and dominated international markets.[11] Nearly 200 small refineries operated in the suburbs of Baku by 1884.[12] As a side effect of these early developments, the Apsheron Peninsula emerged as the world's "oldest legacy of oil pollution and environmental negligence".[13] In 1846 Baku (Bibi-Heybat settlement) featured the first ever well drilled with percussion tools to a depth of 21 meters for oil exploration. In 1878 Ludvig Nobel and his Branobel company "revolutionized oil transport" by commissioning the first oil tanker and launching it on the Caspian Sea.[11]

Central European Galicia), present-day Poland, in 1854–56.[14] Galician refineries were initially small, as demand for refined fuel was limited. The refined products were used in artificial asphalt, machine oil and lubricants, in addition to Łukasiewicz's kerosene lamp
. As kerosene lamps gained popularity, the refining industry grew in the area.

The

reservoir. The discovery at Oil Springs touched off an oil boom which brought hundreds of speculators and workers to the area. Canada's first gusher (flowing well) erupted on January 16, 1862, when local oil-man John Shaw struck oil at 158 feet (48 m).[18]
For a week the oil gushed unchecked at levels reported as high as 3,000 barrels per day.

The first modern oil-drilling in the United States began in West Virginia and Pennsylvania in the 1850s. Edwin Drake's 1859 well near Titusville, Pennsylvania, typically considered[by whom?] the first true[citation needed] modern[citation needed] oil well, touched off a major boom.[19][20][21][need quotation to verify] In the first quarter of the 20th century, the United States overtook Russia as the world's largest oil producer. By the 1920s, oil fields had been established[by whom?] in many countries including Canada, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine, the United States, Peru and Venezuela.[21]

The first successful oil tanker, the Zoroaster, was built in 1878 in Sweden, designed by Ludvig Nobel. It operated from Baku to Astrakhan.[22] A number of new tanker designs developed in the 1880s.

In the early 1930s

Stanolind Oil & Gas (BP), completed its historic Ship Shoal Block 32 well in November 1947, months before Superior actually drilled a discovery from their Vermilion platform farther offshore. In any case, that made Kerr-McGee's Gulf of Mexico well, Kermac No. 16, the first oil discovery drilled out of sight of land.[23][page needed][24] Forty-four Gulf of Mexico exploratory wells discovered 11 oil and natural gas fields by the end of 1949.[25]

During

Ploesti oilfields – the largest in Europe – from August 1944. Cutting off the East Indies oil-supply (especially via submarine campaigns) considerably weakened Japan in the latter part of the war. After World War II ended in 1945, the countries of the Middle East took the lead in oil production from the United States. Important developments since World War II include deep-water drilling, the introduction of the drillship, and the growth of a global shipping network for petroleum – relying upon oil tankers and pipelines. In 1949 the first offshore oil-drilling at Oil Rocks (Neft Dashlari) in the Caspian Sea off Azerbaijan eventually resulted in a city built on pylons. In the 1960s and 1970s, multi-governmental organizations of oil–producing nations – OPEC and OAPEC – played a major role in setting petroleum prices and policy. Oil spills and their cleanup have become an issue of increasing political, environmental, and economic importance. New fields of hydrocarbon production developed in places such as Siberia, Sakhalin, Venezuela
and North and West Africa.

With the advent of hydraulic fracturing and other

Eagle-Ford have become huge hotbeds of production for the largest oil corporations in the United States.[26]

Structure

NIS refinery in Pančevo, Serbia

The American Petroleum Institute divides the petroleum industry into five sectors:[27]

Upstream

Shell, Eni and TotalEnergies), "majors", and "independents" or "jobbers". In recent years however, National Oil Companies (NOC, as opposed to IOC, International Oil Companies) have come to control the rights over the largest oil reserves; by this measure the top ten companies all are NOC. The following table shows the ten largest national oil companies ranked by reserves[28][29] and by production in 2012.[30]

Top 10 largest world oil companies by reserves and production
Rank Company (Reserves) Worldwide Liquids Reserves (109 bbl) Worldwide Natural Gas Reserves (1012 ft3) Total Reserves in Oil Equivalent Barrels (109 bbl) Company (Production) Output (Millions bbl/day)[1]
1 Saudi Arabia Saudi Aramco 260 254 303 Saudi Arabia Saudi Aramco 12.5
2 Iran NIOC 138 948 300 Iran NIOC 6.4
3 Qatar QatarEnergy 15 905 170 United States ExxonMobil 5.3
4 Iraq INOC 116 120 134 China PetroChina 4.4
5 Venezuela PDVSA 99 171 129 United Kingdom BP 4.1
6 United Arab Emirates ADNOC 92 199 126
Royal Dutch Shell
 3.9
7 Mexico Pemex 102 56 111 Mexico Pemex 3.6
8
NNPC
 36 184 68 United States Chevron 3.5
9 Libya NOC 41 50 50 Kuwait Kuwait Petroleum Corporation 3.2
10 Algeria Sonatrach 12 159 39 United Arab Emirates ADNOC 2.9
^1 : Total energy output, including natural gas (converted to bbl of oil) for companies producing both.

Most upstream work in the

oil field or on an oil well is contracted out to drilling contractors and oil field service companies.[citation needed
]

Aside from the NOCs which dominate the Upstream sector, there are many international companies that have a market share. For example:[31]

Midstream

Midstream operations are sometimes classified within the downstream sector, but these operations compose a separate and discrete sector of the petroleum industry. Midstream operations and processes include the following:

While some upstream companies carry out certain midstream operations, the midstream sector is dominated by a number of companies that specialize in these services. Midstream companies include:

Social impact

The oil and gas industry spends only 0.4% of its net sales on research & development (R&D) which is in comparison with a range of other industries the lowest share.

hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") – have moved to the forefront of the industry as this new technology plays a crucial and controversial role in new methods of oil extraction.[37]

Environmental impact

Main article:
Environmental impact of the petroleum industry

Water pollution

See also: Oil pollution toxicity to marine fish

Some petroleum industry operations have been responsible for water pollution through by-products of refining and oil spills. Though hydraulic fracturing has significantly increased natural gas extraction, there is some belief and evidence to support that consumable water has seen increased in methane contamination due to this gas extraction.[38] Leaks from underground tanks and abandoned refineries may also contaminate groundwater in surrounding areas. Hydrocarbons that comprise refined petroleum are resistant to biodegradation and have been found to remain present in contaminated soils for years.[39] To hasten this process, bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants is often employed by means of aerobic degradation.[40] More recently, other bioremediative methods have been explored such as phytoremediation and thermal remediation.[41][42]

Air pollution

See also: Air pollution

The industry is the largest industrial source of emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a group of chemicals that contribute to the formation of ground-level

heavy metals
.

Researchers have discovered that the petrochemical industry can produce ground-level ozone pollution at higher amounts in winter than in summer.[44]

Climate change

See also: Fossil fuel phase-out

The

fossil fuels could "melt the icecap and submerge New York".[45]

The

responsible for most of the observed temperature increase
since the middle of the twentieth century.

As a result of climate change concerns, many alternative energy enthusiasts have begun using other methods of energy such as solar and wind, among others. This recent view has some petroleum enthusiasts skeptical about the true future of the industry.[46]

See also

Industry pioneers
Oil production
Financial and political
Environmental issues
Oil geology
Oil-producing areas
Industry Research Projects
Other articles

Notes and references

  1. ^ Sönnichsen, N. "Daily global crude oil demand 2006–2020". Statista. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Country Comparison :: Refined Petroleum Products – Consumption". Central Intelligence Agency – World Factbook. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  3. ISBN 978-1439873892
    .
  4. ^ Halliday, Fred. The Middle East in International Relations: Cambridge University Press: US, p. 270 [ISBN missing]
  5. ^ "World Energy Investment 2023" (PDF). IEA.org. International Energy Agency. May 2023. p. 61. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 August 2023.
  6. ^ a b Bousso, Ron (8 February 2023). "Big Oil doubles profits in blockbuster 2022". Reuters. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Details for 2020 from the more detailed diagram in King, Ben (12 February 2023). "Why are BP, Shell, and other oil giants making so much money right now?". BBC. Archived from the original on 22 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Crude oil including lease condensate production (Mb/d)". U.S. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  8. ^ N.Y. Krylov, A.A. Bokserman, E.R.Stavrovsky. The Oil Industry of the Former Soviet Union. CRC Press, 1998. P. 187.
  9. ^ Altstadt, Audrey L. (1980). Economic Development and Political Reform in Baku: The Response of the Azerbaidzhani Bourgeoisie. Wilson Center, Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies.
  10. ISBN 978-1-936331-76-5
    .
  11. ^ a b Shirin Akiner, Anne Aldis. The Caspian: Politics, Energy and Security. Routledge, 2004. p. 5.
  12. ^ United States Congress, Joint Economic Committee. The Former Soviet Union in Transition. M.E. Sharpe, 1993. p. 463.
  13. ^ Quoted from: Tatyana Saiko. Environmental Crises. Pearson Education, 2000. p. 223.
  14. ISBN 978-0-674-01887-7
    .
  15. ^ a b "Black Gold: Canada's Oil Heritage". The Corporation of the County of Lambton. Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013. The North American oil industry began in Oil Springs in 1858 in less spectacular fashion. James Miller Williams, a coachmaker from Hamilton, dug into the tar-like gum beds of Enniskillen Township to find their source. At a depth of fourteen feet, he struck oil. Williams immediately built a small refinery and began to produce illuminating oil for lamps – kerosene. It was Williams who was able to take full advantage of the ancient resource. Not only was he astute enough to look below the surface of the gum beds to find oil and to realize its commercial potential, but the timing of his discovery was perfect.
  16. ^ Turnbull Elford, Jean. Canada West's Last Frontier. Lambton County Historical Society, 1982, p. 110
  17. ^ Sarnia Observer and Lambton Advertiser, "Important Discovery in the Township of Enniskillen Archived 2015-04-03 at the Wayback Machine," 5 August 1858, p. 2.
  18. ^ "Extraordinary Flowing Oil Well". Hamilton Times. 20 January 1862. p. 2. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2013. Our correspondent writes us from the Oil Springs, under date of the 16th inst., [an] interesting account of a flowing Oil well which has just been tapped. He says: I have just time to mention that to-day at half past eleven o'clock, a.m., Mr. John Shaw, from Kingston, C. W., tapped a vein of oil in his well, at a depth of one hundred and fifty-eight feet in the rock, which filled the surface well, (forty-five feet to the rock) and the conductors [sic] in the course of fifteen minutes, and immediately commenced flowing. It will hardly be credited, but nevertheless such is the case, that the present enormous flow of oil cannot be estimated at less than two thousand barrels per day, (twenty-four hours), of pure oil, and the quantity increasing every hour. I saw three men in the course of one hour, fill fifty barrels from the flow of oil, which is running away in every direction; the flat presenting the appearance of a sea of oil. The excitement is intense, and hundreds are rushing from every quarter to see this extraordinary well. Experience oil well diggers from the other side, affirm that this week equals their best flowing wells in Pennsylvania, and they pronounced the oil as being of a superior quality. This flowing well is situation on lot No. 10, Range B, Messrs. Sanborn & Co.'s Oil Territory.
  19. ^ John Steele Gordon Archived 2008-04-20 at the Wayback Machine "10 Moments That Made American Business," American Heritage, February/March 2007, "Drake, who seems to have awarded himself the title of colonel by which he is often known, had a great deal of trouble persuading a salt-drilling crew to try to drill for oil, but on August 27, 1859, he struck it at 69 feet."
  20. ^
    ISBN 978-0810862883
    . Retrieved 22 February 2021. In August 1859, an important early well was drilled by Edwin Drake outside Titusville, initiating the Pennsylvania oil boom.
  21. ^ a b Vassiliou, Marius (2018). Historical Dictionary of the Petroleum Industry, 2nd Ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 621 pp.
  22. ISBN 0-8179-6581-5
    . p. 55.
  23. ^ Ref accessed 02-12-89 by technical aspects and coast mapping. Kerr-McGee
  24. ^ "Project Redsand". www.project-redsand.com.
  25. ^ Wells, Bruce. "Offshore Petroleum History". American Oil & Gas Historical Society. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  26. ^ Farah, Stanley, Rachel (24 July 2018). "Comparison of Two Active Hydrocarbon Production Regions in Texas to Determine Boomtown Growth and Development: A Geospatial Analysis of Active Well Locations and Demographic Changes, 2000–2017". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ "Industry Sectors", American Petroleum Institute, archived from the original on 25 January 2012, retrieved 12 May 2008
  28. ^ "Ranked in order of 2007 worldwide oil equivalent reserves as reported in "OGJ 200/100"". Oil & Gas Journal. 15 September 2008.
  29. ^ Pirog, Robert (21 August 2007). "The Role of National Oil Companies in the International Oil Market" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 17 September 2009. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)Ranking by oil reserves and production, 2006 values
  30. ^ "The World's 25 Biggest Oil Companies". Forbes. 16 July 2012.
  31. ^ "Membership". International Association of oil and Gas Producers. Archived from the original on 22 November 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  32. ^ "The Transportation of Natural Gas". NaturalGas.org. Archived from the original on 1 January 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  33. ^ a b "Refining and Product Specifications Module Overview". Petroleum Online. International Human Resources Development Corporation. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  34. ^ Trench, Cheryl J. (December 2001). "How Pipelines Make the Oil Market Work – Their Networks, Operation and Regulation" (PDF). Allegro Energy Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2013.
  35. ^ "The Pharmaceutical Industry in Figures Key Data 2021" (PDF). European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  36. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  37. ISSN 0301-4215
    .
  38. PMID 21555547
    .
  39. ^ Diphare, Motshumi., Muzenda, Edison., Remediation of Contaminated Soils: A Review. Intl' Conf. on Chemical, Integrated Waste Management & Environmental Engineering (ICCIWEE'2014) April 15–16, 2014 Johannesburg.
  40. ^ M D Yuniati 2018 IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 118 012063
  41. ^ Liu, Rui., Jadeja, N. Rajendrasinh., Zhou, Qixing., Liu, Zhe. Treatment and Remediation of Petroleum-Contaminated Soils Using Selective Ornament Plants. Environmental Engineering Sci. 2012 Jun; 29(6): 494–501.
  42. ^ Lim, Wei Mei., Lau, Von Ee., Poh, Eong Phaik. A comprehensive guide of remediation technologies for oil contaminated soil — Present works and future directions. Marine Pollution Bulletin. Volume 109, Issue 1, 15 August 2016, Pages 14-45.
  43. ^ "Air Quality Planning and Standards".
  44. S2CID 4466316
    .
  45. ^ a b Benjamin Franta, "On its 100th birthday in 1959, Edward Teller warned the oil industry about global warming", The Guardian, 1 January 2018 (page visited on 2 January 2018).
  46. ISBN 978-3-319-28750-8
    .

Further reading

External links

Look up oil patch or oilpatch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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