Black Gold

• Black gold or crude oil is a naturally occurring liquid found in rock formations . It is a fossil fuel, formed from the fossilized remains of dead plants and animals by exposure to heat and pressure in the Earth's crust over hundreds of

Processes involved in petroleum industry • Upstream -exploration, development of crude oil or natural gas. • Pipeline – used for transportation from reserves to refineries. • Downstream – refining the crude oil. • Service and Supplyadvertising , retailers and consumers.

• Crude oil cannot be used in its native state therefore it has to undergo fractional distillation to get various byproducts. • 1 barrel = 158.9873 litres Fractional distillation is

Uses

• An early petroleum industry was established in the 8th century, when the streets of Baghdad were paved with tar, derived from petroleum through fractional distillation . In the 9th century, oil fields were exploited in the area around modern Baku, Azerbaijan, to produce naphtha. After Kerosene was obtained from crude oil it started getting used in kerosene

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Scenario after petroleum was discovered in modern times The Industrial Revolution generated

an increasing need for energy which was fuelled mainly by petroleum and coal. Petroleum was in great demand, and by the twentieth century had become the most valuable commodity traded on the world market. • Soon the world started depending on petroleum for energy displacing the old fuels like wood .

Why are petrol prices rising? • • • • •

Rising demand Low stocks OPEC strategy Violence in the middle east Depleting crude oil

Price of a barrel since 1950 to 2003

Increase in price of barrel from 2007 to 2008

Petrol prices from june 2008 to march 2009

Petroleum is a non-renewable and conventional source of energy

• The extraction and usage of petroleum causes a huge amount of carbon emissions which are extremely harmful to the environment. • As petroleum and its by-products are the major source of energy it will be difficult switching over to other sources of energy. • Recent combined UN and OPEC report suggests that the total crude reserves reserves will deplete after a span of 150 yrs to 200 yrs. • Usage of hybrid cars and mixing fuel with bio fuels and ethanol are some of the

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