Chemical Analysis Of Albian Heavy Synthetic Crude Oil

Oil and natural gas companies have developed a way to drill for natural gas, a process called hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Natural gas is a flammable gas mixture consisting of methane and several other hydrocarbons that occur naturally underground. Natural gas is used as fuel for heating, cooking, and even in some automobiles like the “RideOn” buses. This technique has only recently become economically feasible with the rising prices of fossil fuels, and there is much potential for recovering natural gas through fracking. However, fracking has many waste products and unusual side effects caused by the unnatural forces and materials used. Fracking has a detrimental effect on the surrounding environment through

Opponents of the use of the pipeline mode to transport fuel claim that it is responsible for numerous deaths that occur annually. The rate of increased accidents is attributable to the fact that as a mode of fuel transportation, minimal oversight, outdated pipes, and insufficient precautions subject

Oil has been an important resource of energy in America “since the discovery of the Spindletop geyser in 1901. It drove huge growth in the oil industry in America. Within a year, more than 1,500 oil companies had been chartered, and oil became the dominant fuel of the 20th century and an integral part of the American economy” (History.com Staff). This had developed the construction of pipelines to move the oil within the country and offshore in coastal waters. Recently, the federal government approved the construction of a new pipeline that would be transporting crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois.

Introduction: In the kind of world we live in today, we are in dire need of oil. Our cars need oil, our buses need it, our planes and machines. Oil and gas production are very important in order for the many tasks we do day to day and we have become dependent on it. Fracking is a process that uses high pressure water and other chemicals to gather oil under the ground. Although fracking is a fantastic way to gather oil, there have been several problems that have been occurring. In Texas many jobs and drilling locations are appearing because of the high demand for oil. Fracking is a very good way to gather natural gas however, it is causing a lot of problems for society and the environment in Texas.

W hy does everyone care so much about natural gas? Why is it such an essential part of modern culture? Sure, it's an exciting and up and coming technology, which is fuel for the technological generation that we've grown up in, but we need to take a closer look to see the methods and impacts that could affect generations after us.

David Morris, a writer specializing in transportation and logistics, gives various examples of past instances in which oil being carried by train has proved harmful to the environment and even fatal to many people involved in the accident. There are also numerous statistical pieces of research included, supporting the concept that railway transport is less safe than using an underground pipeline for the oil. In the Fortune article “Pipelines: The Worst Way to Move Oil, Except For All the Rest”, Morris Presents a short review of the recent events in relation to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) before suggesting another factor that could pose a threat to the area. The dangers of transporting the oil via railway are addressed, giving another perspective on how the situation could be made far worse for the Industries supporting the project and the environmentalists protesting against its

According to a study conducted by Dr. Dagmar Etkin of Environmental Research Consulting, pipelines are not the safest mode of petroleum transportation. In accordance with this information, transportation by train is more effective and safer than using pipelines. The mode of transportation with the highest ratio of oil spillage in waterways is by vehicles such as fuel trucks. Between the years 1980 and 2003, land vehicles were in the lead with 44% oil spillage per transport, while pipelines had 32%. The remaining 24% of oil spills were awarded to train transports. These special train cars are the safest mean of transportation out of the three. Even though the percentages seem to be very close in the spectrum, the total volume of spilled oil from pipelines exceeds road vehicles by over 100,000,000 gallons of oil (Wile). However, a more recent source, the official Dakota Access Pipeline webpage states, “…pipelines are the safest, most efficient method of transporting oil, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation” (“Dakota Access

The process of making synthetic crude oil requires an enormous amount of water, especially in the separation process. Each barrel of oil requires two tons of oil sands and up to five barrels of hot water. Water is also needed along with electricity to convert it steam. The steam is pushed by steam injections making bitumen less viscous. It is quite evident that oil sands are not practical in terms of its process. Also three-quarters of the bitumen can be recovered from the sands, leaving behind 25% as waste. With the technology in our present society, oil sands are not entirely practical in terms of efficiency; however, in the future, this may change. To reflect, there are many disadvantages associated with oil sands, especially in the way it is processed.

In 2000, shale beds where the number one source of America’s constant need for gas. Most of that production increase has come about to the growing need of hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking”, which is a process used to release oil or gas from underground formations that are otherwise too hard to mine with other tools. Over the past few years, advances in fracking technology have made huge reserves of natural gas in America economically recoverable. According to the Energy Information Administration, shale gas plays, or fields, in the United States, most notably the Marcellus, in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New York, and the Barnett, in Texas, are said to contain enough natural gas to give power to the country for a hundred and ten years. With the everlasting specter of energy independence, some have argued that such efforts to recover natural gas need to be expanded. Activists concerned with fracking’s potential environmental hazards view the new process as a serious threat to our environment. There are many different opinions on wether or not fracking is a safe way to gain our gasoline, and to meet the growing demands of gasoline around the world. The process of fracking creates cracks that come from wells into oil and gas formations by pumping highly pressurized fluids, ceramic beads, sand, and a mixture of chemicals, into the gas formation. As this fluid holds the underground fissures open, oil and gas fly up the well to the surface where they are

Crude oil comes from plants and animals that have died millions of years ago. The heat and pressure turns most of the materials into a thick dark oil called crude oil or it is also called petroleum. There are three types of crude oil: Heavy crude oil, which is found in Lloydminster and in Kindersley, medium crude, oil is found in southwest Saskatchewan, and light crude oil is found in Weyburn, Estevan and Kindersley.

Roughly 81% of the energy consumed in the United States in 2015 was produced by fossil fuels including coal, natural gas, and petroleum oil (EIA, “U.S. Energy Facts Explained”). A study on the consequences of coal revealed that the burning of coal produced over 100 million tons of solid waste, and the readying of coal to be burned creates nearly 90 million gallons of slurry, a muddy waste product, in the United States every year (Sierra Club 2011). In 2015, 2,413 petroleum oil spills were reported to have spilled a total of just over 300,000 gallons in U.S. waterways (U.S. Department of Transportation). Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for oil and natural gas can contaminate groundwater, induce earthquakes, and release air pollutants.

So what is this mysterious black gold substance that everyone refers to as crude oil? Basically, crude oil is a petroleum based substance that is naturally formed from plants and animals that roamed the Earth millions of years ago. These microorganisms settled deep within our Earth’s crust and comprises of numerous minerals, hydrocarbons, organic compounds and inconsequential traces of metals. Crude oil cannot just be drawn up from the ground and shoved into someone’s gas tank without first being refined

Of the all the oil fields throughout Canada, 25% are offshore locations in Newfoundland. 8% comes from either BC or Ontario and 67% of all onshore oil fields are in Alberta, which is defined by the term “Oil Country”. From these locations, pipelines are used to transport liquid oil to refineries. It is at these refineries the process of being turned into gasoline, diesel, and petroleum takes place. After this process, petroleum products are sent to distribution centres.

The Alberta Tar Sands have been a contentious issue in recent years. Although the tar sands is estimated to be one of the Earth's biggest reserves of fossil fuels, the extraction of these resources is known to cause a variety of social and ecological problems. The extraction process itself is inefficient and the pipeline that has been proposed is subject to many environmental risks. Portions of the pipeline have already been approved and the construction of the pipeline is already begun in some areas. This paper will look at some of the factors associated with tar sands extraction and production of fossil fuels.

“Rockefeller built an empire in a world without automobiles, finding profit by selling kerosene and lamp oil. By the turn of the century, the internal-combustion engine was generating demand for a new product: gasoline.”4 In comes the Lone Star State, to solve the worlds energy problem “Jan. 10, 1901, the modern American oil industry began on Spindletop Hill, south of Beaumont, Texas.”4 The big hill, located 4 miles south of Beaumont, Texas was formed millions of years ago with a giant underground dome made of salt. A man named Anthony Lucas from Austria, a former salt miner, was baffled at this big hill, which was actually only 12 feet high in elevation over the prairie lands. Lucas contacted some Pennsylvania oilmen for some help. The Pennsylvanian’s travel to Texas, surveyed a nice spot on the hill, and on October 27, 1900 the gusher was spudded. Spindletop had been drilled before, but never by a rotary drilling rig. Drilling is difficult at first. “There is little in the way of rock at the surface in that part of the world. Instead, oil wildcatters had to drill through several hundred feet of sand,”5 Due to the high sand content the well continually caved in, and one of the Pennsylvanians decided to try mud instead of water to help. This advancement changed the game for drilling, and is still used to drill wells today. The “Lucas Gusher” will erupt more than 150 feet into the air. It begins flowing at an astounding 100,000 barrels per day from a depth of 1,010