Where is the oil extracted from?

The Petroleum it's a fossil resource that is used as primary energy in today's world, in particular the main source of energy that is also the raw material in many processes in the chemical industry.

The emergence of oil replaced coal which was the main source of energy at the end of the 19th century, traditionally being located in 1859 the origin of the oil industry with the drilling of the famous Edwin Laurentine Prake well in Pennsylvania.

What is oil made of?

Oil originates from the debris of living aquatic, plant and animal organisms, which used to live in the seas, lagoons or river mouths. The organic material is deposited and is covered by sediments, and as it gets deeper and deeper it becomes hydrocarbons, in a process that according to recent theories is due to different types of bacteria.

The composition Oil is typically 84-87% carbon, 11-14% hydrogen, 0-2% sulfur, and slightly less than 0.2% nitrogen.

Where is the oil extracted from?

Oil is located in the underground layers of the earth

or in underwater basins, thousands of meters deep. Extracting the oil from these areas is a complicated task that begins with the geological investigation that proposes to locate the presence of hydrocarbon deposits, drilling the wells.

Different drilling rigs are prepared for this purpose, in a process that is essential for the obtaining oil. At those depths, moreover, liquids they are at extremely high pressure, and so the drilling includes a strong change in pressure and temperature conditions.

Processing of extracted oil

Once the oil has been extracted, the process of sediment separation, water and natural gas with which it is usually accompanied (in the case of natural gas, it is frequently sent to treatment plants to take advantage of it or dispatch it as dry gas).

The material is then sent to the storage tanks and to the pipelines that will transport it to the refineries or export ports. Despite the progress made, it is never possible to extract more than 50% or 60% of the oil in a field.

Petroleum uses and derivatives

The uses of oil in modern society cross different consumption habits, and include several groups:

Alternative energies

The essential nature of oil today does not make it irreplaceable. Rather, new technologies allow some expectations to be generated in relation to candidates to replace oil:

Follow with: