Petroleum

Formation

  • Fossil fuels are the product of millions of years of photosynthesis stored and processed under heat and pressure
  • Most fuel is found in rocks from about 50-450 million years ago
  • Limestone, sandstone, and shale

Petroleum/ Crude Oil

This is a primary source that is liquid hydrocarbons found in rock deposits.

Natural Gas

This is a primary source that is gaseous hydrocarbons found in rock deposits, sometimes together with liquid oil, sometimes without.

Light/Heavy

Light crude oil has smaller molecules on average and heavy crude oil has larger ones.

Sweet/Sour

Sweet crude oil is less than 1% sulfur, while sour crude oil is around 1-2% sulfur.

Gasoline

Gasoline is a secondary energy source created from crude oil in refineries.

  • Lighter molecules rise to the top of distillation towers

Flows

Source: EIA
Source: EIA

Stakeholders

  • Oil field labor
  • Oil field owners
  • Refinery labor
  • Refinery owners
  • Automobile drivers
  • Political leaders

Techno-economic perspectives

  • Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling
  • Internal combustion engine
  • Oil has high energy density
  • Oil is easily stored and transported
  • Natural gas is liquified for overseas export

Internal Combustion Engines

  • Combustion: Gasoline and Oxygen
  • Expansion: Combustion gasses expand
  • Linear Kinetic Energy: pushes on piston
  • Rotational Kinetic Energy: piston pushes on crankshaft

Prices

Source: Wikimedia

Bloomberg Energy

Environmental Perspectives

  • Lead/MTBE
    • Tailpipe Emissions
    • Storage spills
  • Oil spills
    • Exxon Valdez 1989 Prince William Sound, Alaska
    • Deepwater Horizon explosion 2010
  • GHG gases

Socio-Technical perspectives

  • Jobs Data
  • Geopolitical conflicts
  • Resource curse

Policy

  • Crude export ban 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act
  • Ban lifted in 2015

Natural Gas for Electricity Still Growing

“Artificial Intelligence” Data Centers

There are 300 GW of power planned for new “AI” data centers. The entire grid is about 760 GW. 80% of this demand is expected to be met by gas generation.

Power Requirements

Data centers are expected to Bring Your Own Power (BYOP).

Renewables advocates are proposing Bring Your Own New Clean Energy (BYONCE).

Fossil Fuel Molecules

Petroleum prices

Certain prices are indexed and recorded