Welcome back.

Today, we see how oil is formed and

how it is produced. But first of all we start
from a definition of oil. What is oil? What do we mean by crude oil? Oil is a mix
of different
molecules of hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons are
molecules composed of carbon atoms and
hydrogen atoms, and this is the origin
of the name hydrocarbon. The simplest hydrocarbon is
composed of just one atom of carbon and four atoms of hydrogen to saturate
this atom of carbon. This is methane or natural gas. As the name says, it is a gas
at
atmospheric conditions. We can then have
more complex molecule to other carbon, 3, 4, 5. Beyond five, they become liquid
at atmospheric conditions, which means under
atmospheric pressure and on normal temperature. What is normal temperature
varies but not heated. So when we start from
five atoms of carbon, we are in the presence
of a liquid. As the number of atoms
of carbon increases, this liquid becomes
more and more dense, it becomes more and more oily, it becomes more and more
sticky. At some point, it does
not flow anymore, it's not a liquid anymore. This is what we know as asphalt or
bitumen and
that we use to pave roads not to use in
an engine or for burning. So this is what we define as oil. Oil is a mix of
hydrocarbons that are liquid under
atmospheric conditions. Therefore, the fact
that they are liquid allows for easier treatment
of it, easier transportation, easier containment in tanks, and it's one of the
greatest advantages of oil. So how is oil formed? Oil has been formed
in geological eras. Thanks to the decay
of organic material. We had it in the past
various microorganisms living mostly in the water, even corals or algae, and as all
living organism
died and once they were dead, the organic material accumulated on the bottom of the
sea. As this happened and
further sediments accumulated on top of
these organic rich sediments, pressure increased and
the sediments containing a lot of organic material
were pushed down below, and at some point the temperature
increased because as you approximate go closer to the center of the earth,
the temperature increases. If you get into
a so-called kitchen, where the temperature is between 60 and 150 degrees
centigrade more or less, then the combination of
pressure and temperature causes the organic
material to decay. In this decay, which means that the original molecules are
broken up into smaller molecules, into this decay oil is formed. Once it is formed,
oil is lighter than water and so has a tendency
to come towards the top. There is a tendency
to percolate through the rock and come
closer to the surface. In order to do that, the rock must allow
the oil to pass through. It must be porous, permeable, it must have little holes
that the oil came path
from one to the other. This is not guaranteed of course. So one possibility is
that oil is formed but it remains trapped in
a rock that is not porous, that does not allow it to
travel towards the surface. This is one type
of oil formation. Next, there is a possibility that indeed oil can come
towards the surface. As it comes towards the surface, may be it finds a gap, a rock
which is impermeable. In that case,
the oil will come up to this point but
cannot go further. So there is an accumulation, an accumulation of oil in porous
rock which is kept by a rock which is not
porous, not permeable. Third possibility is
that oil is generated, it goes towards the surface, and does not find a gap, but
continues to travel towards a surface and reaches very
close to the surface, at which point the lighter
molecules evaporate in the atmosphere and what is
left is heavier molecules, the so-called extra-heavy
oil and bitumen. The conventional or normal
deposits accumulations of oil as a liquid in a porous capped rock can take place on
the ground or offshore. If they are onshore, they are easier of
course to produce, and this is the case of the great reservoirs that we still
produce from
in the Middle East, in places like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Abu Dhabi. This is
where we have the largest known
accumulations of oil onshore. But increasingly, we go
offshore for looking for oil. In offshore,
the conditions are more difficult and you need
different production methods.