Oil History

How it is formed
Oil is a natural mixture of liquid hydrocarbons, which are found in sedimentary rocks in association with hydrocarbon gas,
gas, solid bitumen and other fossils.

All hydrocarbon molecules are composed of only two types of atoms, carbon and hydrogen. It is the amount of carbon
atoms in the molecule that determines the state of the hydrocarbons.
The hydrocarbons are a non-renewable energy source, formed during a very long period of time.

The environments are more favorable to their training are the areas of seabed characterized by continuous inputs of
sediments from the rivers. Over millions of years the seabed has accumulated sediments, sand and clay, mixed with the
remains of micro-organisms and animals and plants. The organic matter contained in the rock, the so-called mother rock,
and transforms a certain depth, pressures and high temperatures into oil. The duration of the process varies from tens to a
hundreds of millions of years.

The hydrocarbons that are lighter than water, and tend to move upward and laterally through the porous rock and in some
cases can reach the surface and disperse in other cases their ascent is blocked by a layer of impermeable rock to shape of
the dome that traps them.

Oil Exploration
The exploration for new deposits is a very long and expensive procedure and must be done carefully. First a map of
surface rocks must be drawn by analyzing aerial photographs or satellite pictures, and with the help of the geophysics of
micropaleontology and petrography, all relevant information on chemical and physical characteristics of the rocks, their
age and their composition are studied. In a second stage seismic waves are sent through the deep layers of rock and are
reflected in different ways depending on the density of the rock, on their return to the surface waves are recorded by
geophones.
The data collected to the computer properly processed and interpreted provide an image of the subsurface structure from
which one can infer the presence of traps with liquid. Though the traps could contain only water and have no oil.

Oil drilling
Drilling of a well sounds very simple, but in fact it is a very complicated procedure as it entails many different aspects of
the solidity of the rock, gas pressure etc….

To drill a well one can start with a diameter of 70 cm but 6,000 meters down the diameter is barely reaching 10 cm. Many
environmental aspects must be also taken into account during drilling.
Sea drilling is much more complex as the drilling unit is based on a platform on the sea and environmental issues become
much more difficult to handle.

Production
The production facility occupies just 10 square meters and is located in part below the level of the ground to limit the
impact of vision. Initially, the gas and oil come out spontaneously due to the internal pressure, after the oil is extracted
through pumps or by injecting water into the reservoir, which pushes up oil residues.
This way about 40% of oil and 90% of gas can be recovered. The average life of a field is 20-30 years. Oil is then
transported generally by pipes to the refineries for cracking into oil products.

Refining
Crude oil is introduced into a furnace and brought to a temperature of about 400 ° C that changes its physical state from
liquid into vapor. The lowest point of the column are condensed fuel oils, lubricants, paraffin, wax and bitumen.

Between 350 ° C and 250 ° C is condensed gas oil used as fuel for diesel engines and for domestic heating.

Between 250 ° C and 160 ° C kerosene fuel oil used as a propellant for jet aircraft and heating equipment.

Between 160 ° C and 70 ° C condensate oil a liquid used as a fuel and as raw material to produce plastics,
pharmaceuticals, pesticides and fertilizers.

Between 70 ° C and 20 ° C condense the gasoline is used as fuel for cars and aircraft.

At 20 ° C remain gaseous methane, ethane, propane and butane. In particular, butane and propane fuel are called LPG.
Types of crude oil
The oil as many other products that are formed in nature is not always the same, and different types of crude oil exists.
The two main criteria that are used to define the types are: gravity and the presence of sulfur.
Gravity is measured in degrees API (American Petroleum Institute) on a scale ranging from less than 10 to over 50. If its
API gravity is greater than 10, it is lighter and oil floats on water; if less than 10, it is heavier and sinks. API gravity is thus
a measure of the relative density of a petroleum liquid and the density of water, but it is used to compare the relative
densities of petroleum liquids.
The types of oil are divided as follows:

Heavy: with a degree less than 22 ° API

Average: with a degree between 22 ° and 34 ° API

Light: with a degree above 34 ° API

The crude is also categorized into three, depending on the sulfur content:

Sweet: sulfur less than 0.5%

Medium sour : between 0.5% and 1.5%

Sour: above 1.5%

Some reflection…
As briefly depicted, Oil is a very precious product and must not be wasted. To get an idea most sodas that we drink, which
contain only aromas and sugar, cost about 160USD per barrel, whereas oil, which takes millions of years to form and is so
difficult to extract costs around 50USD per barrel, almost three times less……… To give another example, we are heating
our home by burning it…