Petroleum

Petra = rock   Olea = oil
1857 - First oil production at Oil Springs, Ontario  from a shallow pit..

We live not in the stone, bronze, iron, or information age but the age of petroleum. Our dependence starts wars and our misuse is damaging the oceans and our atmosphere.
Some economic theorists point to the present as the moment in history when oil production peaks and demand begins to soar as India and China scramble to attain Western lifestyles. Imagine the result?
 
> oil is a mixture of long  chain hydrocarbons

> there are at least 2 opposing theories of the origin of oil
 

A) BIOGENIC - oil originates with living organisms that become part of the sedimentary rock system and under high temperature and heat form long chain hydrocarbon molecules that seep through porous sand and rock deposits and is then trapped by an impervious layer of rock.
 

B) ABIOGENIC - petroleum is produced very deep in the Earth under extreme pressure from water and a marble(CaCO3 calcium carbonate)
and iron oxide, the astounding corollary is that oil reserves can refill themselves! (this has been observed in some cases)

> most oil is extracted by drilling wells into Sedimentary Rock structures in areas known to have collected organic fossil material

> oil can be extracted from shale and tar sands as is the case in Canada at Fort McMurray Alberta's Syncrude Oil Extraction Plant

 

> overburden is first removed then oil bearing sand is mined and processed with steam to separate the oil and sand
> a great deal of energy is required for this process

> traditional oil wells are depicted below: oil "seeps" up trough porous rocks from regions where it is created until it is stopped by impervious rock formations
                     gas overlays oil which overlays water