July 2012
FGSH
NEWSLINE
Article # 2
C
Our addiction to crude oil!
rude oil, also referred commonly as ‘black gold’, is the foundation of our modern society.
It is the most actively traded commodity of world trade. And hence, it is nearly impossible
to live a life without it. Look around your room. From the plastics, candles, synthetic
fibers (polyester, nylon, rayon), medicines, eye glasses, detergents, electronic sockets to the makeup products and even your toilet seats. Almost everything around you is made up of oil. Oil in the
form of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel helps us to swiftly travel from one place to other, much faster
than mankind would have imagined in the 18th century!
So, what is crude oil? It is a yellow or black viscous liquid that can be drilled out of the
ground. It was formed over millions of years as the animals and plants got covered with sand and
silt and were subjected to high pressure and temperature. Crude oil is also known as petroleum oil.
The word “petroleum” means “rock oil” or “oil from the earth”. It contains hydrocarbons (5097%), organic compounds (6-10%) and small amount of metals (<1%). Hydrocarbons are
molecules that contain hydrogen and carbon and come in various lengths and structures, from
straight chains to branching chains to rings. They contain a lot of energy!
After crude oil is extracted from the ground, it is sent to a refinery where the different part of
crude oil is separated into usable products. A barrel of oil produces 45 gallons of petroleum
products in the ratios is shown in Figure 2. Most of it is used as one form of energy or other.
At the current rate of consumption, it is
estimated that worldwide reserves on crude oil
will become extinguished by 2039.
Fig. 1. Crude oil drilling from ground
The top 5 producers of crude oil are Saudi Arabia, Russia, United States,
Iran and China. In the US, most of the oil comes from Texas, Alaska,
California, North Dakota and Louisiana. We love crude oil so much that we are
Fig. 2. Products made from a barrel
also the biggest consumers of crude oil. Ironically, US has 4% of world
of crude oil (Source: U.S. Energy
population, but consumes 25% of world’s oil. Therefore, we have to import
Information Administration)
huge amounts of crude oil from other nations. In 2009, the US imported 51%
of what it consumed that year.
Unfortunately, Earth has only a limited number crude oil reserves. Every oil reserve has a cycle from its discovery
to its depletion. Once discovered, production from the reservoir continues to increase until it reaches its maximum
output. After that, production plateaus, and then begins to decline. Once it declines, production continues downward
until the reservoir is depleted. Once the oil reserves reach near 50%, it gets harder to extract it from the ground. This
means that the price of crude oil will rise.
At the current rate of consumption it is estimated that worldwide reserves will become extinguished by 2039.
Scientists and engineers are working hard to find ways of more efficiently extracting and processing crude oil to delay
what could become a global energy crisis. By using alternative sources of energy and reducing our dependence on crude
oil, we can get more time to develop newer greener and sustainable technologies.
The transition from a crude oil based products to alternatives has begun. Biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel has
started to serve as alternative and renewable source of transportation fuels. Alternative forms of energy such as wind,
solar, tidal and geo-thermal are getting bigger every day. It is time to embrace this transition!
Article drafted by Karthikeyan Ramachandriya, PhD Candidate, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department, and edited by Mr. Michael
Resetarits, Technical Director, Fractional Research Inc., Stillwater. For questions and comments, please email [email protected]. This
article is a part of BAEGSA-FRC Green Student Initiative. Acknowledgments: Eric Lam, undergraduate student from Biosystems and Agricultural
Engineering Department for designing this template.