E+Block+-+Oil

=**Oil in New Mexico**= = =
 * Background Research:**

The first form of oil used in the United States was whale oil, bust in the 19th century as the whale population decreased, people began looking for a new way to fuel their lamps and other items. People first found crude oil that had seeped up to the surface, they turned it into kerosene and used it as fuel. In 1859, Edwin Drake drilled the first American commercial oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania. Most crude oil during this time was turned into kerosene, while a small amount was made into gasoline, which was discarded. The oil industry spread to more locations in the East before massive amounts of oil were discovered in Western states such as Texas and California. Oil production increased and popularity for the product grew. Gasoline was not used until 1886, when European gasoline powered cars were introduced in America. The demand for gasoline, which before had been thrown out as a byproduct of kerosene distillation, increased in the United States.



The first commercial production of oil began in 1924 with a well drilled in southeastern New Mexico, although traces of oil and gas had been seen in the state since the late 1800s. The industry began to gain momentum with the drilling of a well in Lea County in 1927, this became the site of New Mexico's greatest oil and gas production. Not long after, a massive amount of oil was discovered in Hobbs, known as the Hobbs pool. This placed New Mexico as one of the top ten oil producing states in the country. As technology developed, New Mexico's oil refineries became suppliers for the west as well as the east of the country. In the 50s and 60s the New Mexico oil industry continued to grow with the help of advanced methods of retrieving crude oil such as steam injection and solvent displacement method. The New Mexico oil industry continues to provide a lot for the country to this day.


 * Current Information About Usage:**
 * New Mexico ranks #33 in oil consumption out of the 50 states.
 * We consume 24.438 barrels of petroleum in our state in a year per capita.
 * We produce around 177,815 barrels of oil per day.
 * New Mexico is the 5th largest producer of oil in the U.S. after Texas, Alaska, California, and North Dakota.
 * Major sources of crude oil in New Mexico are located in the Permian Basin and the San Juan Basin.
 * There are three oil refineries in New Mexico

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 * Current Information About the Science:**

Crude oil is made from million year old plankton that fell to the ground and was covered with sand and mud. The heat and pressure gradually turned the mud into rock and the dead animals and plants into oil and gas. The rocks are porous and absorbed the oil from created by the plankton and plants. It takes millions of years for the oil to rise up from the cap rock. Oil companies drill into the rock and recover the oil held in the rock like a sponge.
 * What is oil made from?**

**How is oil drilled?**

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 * Benefits:**


 * Advantages of Oil:**
 * **Oil is still an abundant resource and able to be retrieved in New Mexico as well as other parts of the country. It is not as hard to get as other forms of energy/fossil fuels.**
 * **Although the costs of gasoline seem to always be increasing, compared to the costs of other alternative energy sources, the cost of oil is relatively affordable.**
 * **Because of the liquid form it comes in, oil is relatively easy to transport and the** **industry has come up with better ways to get oil from the ground to the market.**
 * **The fuels that come from oil are more energy efficient than than alternative energy fuels.**
 * **Oil use produces CO2 emissions but they are lower than those produced by the burning of coal.**

One of the main drawbacks of using Oil in New Mexico is that there is not an unlimited amount of the resource. When oil runs out in our state, estimated to occur in several decades, we will lose a large source of income and energy to power our state. If our dependency on oil only increases in the future, running out of the resource could pose many problems. Because our homes, businesses, and cars rely on oil, we will have to find a replacement source when our state's resources run out. This means we will have to buy oil from other states or even other countries. But because sources of oil are becoming more scarce everywhere, the price of importing oil to fuel New Mexico is likely to rise drastically. Not only will our state lose the income made from producing and selling oil, but we will be forced to pay for a limited supply of oil from outside the state. Another problem with using oil in New Mexico is that research proves that drilling for oil endangers the environment and the ecosystem. In addition, the burning of oil leads to carbon emissions. While the carbon emissions themselves are not neccesarily dangeroust, the fact that there is nothing able to absorb such huge amounts of carbon readily means that the pollution will be trapped in the atmosphere and environment. Burning oil releases carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxides. This type of greenhouse gas pollution is a crucial factor in global warming. In addition, one method of drilling for oil, "Hydrofracking" may contaminate water supplies or trigger earthquakes. Overall, the drilling, refining, and burning of oil may cause major problems in the future of our state. While the resource is good for our state's economy and energy usage today, the drawbacks in the future could begin to outweigh the benefits.
 * Drawbacks:**
 * Pictures:**




 * Top 6 Oil-Producing States. (n.d.).//Investopedia – Educating the world about finance//. Retrieved December 11, 2012, from http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0511/top-6-oil-producing-states.aspx

Major Sources of Energy: Their Advantages and Disadvantages. (n.d.).//BURN An Energy Journal | The Public Radio Energy Project//. Retrieved December 11, 2012, from http://burnanenergyjournal.com/major-sources-of-energy-their-advantages-and-disadvantages/

Crude Oil Production. (n.d.). //U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)//. Retrieved December 11, 2012, from http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_crd_crpdn_adc_mbbl_m.htm

New Mexico Oil & Gas Association - Promoting Safe and Responsible Development of Oil and Gas. (n.d.). //New Mexico Oil & Gas Association - Promoting Safe and Responsible Development of Oil and Gas//. Retrieved December 11, 2012, from http://www.nmoga.org/

Oil Consumption By State [PIC]. (n.d.).//BuzzFeed//. Retrieved December 11, 2012, from http://www.buzzfeed.com/scott/oil-consumption-by-state History of the Oil Industry. (n.d.). //San Joaquin Valley Geology //. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from http://www.sjvgeology.org/history/index. History of the Oil Industry. (n.d.). //San Joaquin Valley Geology //. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from http://www.sjvgeology.org/history/index.