Properties of oil

Lecture no. (1): Origin of Oil

Mr. Dana Mohammad
Properties of oil Lecture NO.1

Kurdistan accounts for 43.7 billion

barrels of proven oil reserves, 25.5
billion more barrels of unproven
reserves and between 3 and 6 trillion
cubic meters of gas (30% of Iraq's
proven oil reserves).

http://www.eia.gov/countries/index.cfm?view=reserves
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Properties of oil Lecture NO.1

1- Definitions

The word petroleum, derived from the Latin petra and oleum, means
literally rock oil.
Petroleum (rock oil) refers to hydrocarbons that occur widely in the
sedimentary rocks in the form of gases and liquids.
Petroleum varies dramatically in color, odor and flow properties that
reflect the diversity of its origin.
It's a complex mixture of hydrocarbons that occur in the form of gases
(Natural gas), Liquid (Crude Oil), semi solid (Bitumen), or solid (Wax or
asphalts).
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Properties of oil Lecture NO.1

Petroleum is the most vital substance consumed by man at the

present time. It's important for society, politics and technology.

It's used as a main source of energy for industry, heating,

transportation; it also provides a raw materials for petrochemical
and plastic industry.

The rise in importance was mostly due to invention of internal

combustion engine and the raise in commercial aviation.

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Properties of oil Lecture NO.1

• Downstream and upstream

Upstream" and "downstream" are business terms applicable to

the production processes that exist within several industries.
Industries that commonly use this terminology include the metals
industry, oil, gas, biopharmaceutical and
biotechnology
industries.

Thus, upstream, downstream and midstream make up the stages

of the production process for these and other industries.

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Properties of oil Lecture NO.1

• In petroleum industry

Upstream applies to the operation of exploration, drilling, hydro-

carbon production, and transmission via truck, rail or ship or
pipeline to the refinery intake valve.

Downstream includes all work done at the refinery, distillation,

cracking, reforming , blending storage, mixing and shipping.

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Properties of oil Lecture NO.1

3- Formation
Biogenic theory
According to this theory, oil is formed from the preserved remains of
plants, animals and algae which have been settled to the sea bottom in
large quantities under anoxic conditions.
Over geological time this organic matter, mixed with mud, is buried
under heavy layers of sediment.
The resulting high levels of heat and pressure cause the remains to
convert, first into a waxy material known as kerogen and then with more
heat into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons in a process known as
catagenesis.
The process of kerogen conversion into hydrocarbon
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Properties of oil Lecture NO.1

Because most hydrocarbons are lighter than rock or water, these

sometimes migrate upward until they become trapped below
waterproof rocks, within porous rocks called reservoirs.

Concentration of hydrocarbons in a trap forms an oil field, from which

the liquid can be extracted by drilling and pumping.

Kerogen: is a composite of waxy hydrocarbon compounds which is the

primary organic component of oil shale (an organic sedimentary rock
containing kerogen).

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Properties of oil Lecture NO.1

Abiogenic theory

The idea proposes that large amounts of carbon exist naturally in

the planet, some in the form of hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons are
less dense than aqueous fluids, and migrate upward through deep
fracture networks. Thermophile rock bacterial are in part
responsible for the organic compound found in petroleum.

Thermophile : Requiring high temperatures for normal development.

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Properties of oil Lecture NO.1

Oil Window
The temperature range in which the oil forms is an oil window. This
range is generally between 50 to 200 0C.

Below the minimum temperature the oil remains trapped in the

form of kerogen, and above the maximum temperature the oil is
converted to natural gas through the process of thermal cracking.

The formation of oil is endothermic reactions at high temperature

and pressure.

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Properties of oil Lecture NO.1

4- Composition of Petroleum

An oil well produces mainly crude oil with some natural gas
dissolved in it.

Because the pressure is lower at surface than underground, some of

the gases can come out as associated with oil and can be recovered
(or burned).

All crude oils are mainly constituted of hydrocarbons mixed with

variable amounts of Sulfur, Nitrogen, and Oxygen compounds.

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Properties of oil Lecture NO.1 I
Metals in the form of inorganic salts or organo-metallic compounds
are present in the crude mixture in tiny amounts.

The ratio of different constituents in crude oils varies obviously

from one reservoir to another.

The exact molecular composition varies widely from formation to

formation but the proportion of chemical elements varies over
narrow limits and as shown in Table 1.1

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Properties of oil Lecture NO.1

Table 1.1 the composition by weight of crude oil as chemical element

Element Range %

Carbon 83-87
Hydrogen 10-14
Nitrogen 0.1 – 4
Oxygen 0.1 – 1.5
Sulfur 0.5-6
Metals <0.1

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Properties of oil Lecture NO.1

Normally crude oils are not used directly as a fuel or as feed stocks for
the production of chemicals.
This is due to the complex nature of the crude oil mixture and the
presence of some impurities that are corrosive or poisonous to the
processing catalyst.

Crude oils are refined to separate the mixture into simpler fractions that
can be used as fuels, lubricants, or as intermediate feed to the
petrochemical industries.
A general knowledge of these composite mixtures is essential for
establishing a processing strategy.

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Properties of oil Lecture NO.1

5- Traps
Natural accumulation of petroleum in the earth's interior are called traps.
Petroleum found in pockets of porous rock such as sandstone,
surrounded by non-porous rock. Gas and oil and water have speed into
such pockets and been trapped.
Kind of traps:
A-The anticline trap: it is the most common trap in which the pool and
locked in the roof areas of anticlinal structure.

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Properties of oil Lecture NO.1

B- The fault trap: the fault is where earth

movement have caused rock layer to crack
and shift, so that a non-porous layer forms
apart the barrier trapping the oil.

C- The stratigraphic trap: a stratigraphic

trap forms when two non-porous layers
have joined.

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