C+Block+-+Oil

=New Mexico Energy Usage: Oil =

Background:
The first successful gas and oil wells were drilled in northwest New Mexico in 1991 and 1992. Between 1952 and 1962 additional pipe lines were built throughout northwestern New Mexico.The discovery of the worlds famous Hobbs pool quicky earned New Mexico a place in the top ten oil producing states.In 1932 New Mexico established six refineries manufacturing gasoline, kerosene, heating oil, and road oil. Advances in technology contribute to the industry growth, the industry has its up and downs. New Mexico has been a major producer of oil for the Nation; in 2000 New Mexico produced more than 68 million barrels of oil. New Mexicos Permian Basin holds three of the 100 largest oil fields in the united states. New Mexico has more oil wells waiting to be drilled than any other state, 4,500 oil wells are waiting to be drilled.



(Photo from http://www.earthlab.com)

Current Technology and Usage:
Oil can be used to create crayons, plastic, heating oil, jet fuel, kerosene, gasoline, synthetic fibers, and tires.

"Oil and natural gas production is a mainstay of New Mexico’s economy. The value of oil and gas produced from the state during 2000 was $8.2 billion. It is estimated that oil and natural gas production annually contributes $1.2 billion to the state’s economy. Taxes on oil and gas production contribute approximately 20% of the state’s general fund. Royalties from production on New Mexico state trust lands have provided 95% of the revenues to the State Land Permanent Fund, which supports K-12 schools, universities, the Children’s Hospital, and prisons and has contributed similar amounts to the Severance Tax Permanent Fund. The oil and gas industry is one of the largest private sector employers in the state with 23,000 jobs.In general gas production from existing wells declines 50% every five years. This decline rate is somewhat less for oil. That means half of the natural gas that we use is obtained from wells drilled within the past five years. In order to replace this production new wells must be drilled. New technologies and new geological concepts can help alleviate production declines by helping to produce overlooked oil and gas or undiscovered oil and gas in old fields. Application of new, advanced technologies will become increasingly important in the future. Our recently released Open-File Report 479 discusses advanced technologies that have been used successfully to increase production from existing oil fields in New Mexico."([|geoinfo.nmt.edu]).

"the State of New Mexico derived more than 25% of its general fund revenues from taxes and royalties on oil, natural gas, and carbon dioxide production. These taxes and royalties have contributed more than 90% of the principal in the Severance Tax and Land Grant Permanent Funds, the earnings on which are used to fund education and other state government operations."([|geoinfo.nmt.edu]).

"Giant Industries purchases almost all of the San Juan Basin’s oil, refining it into gasoline and diesel at facilities in Bloomfield and Thoreau."([|www.nmlegis.gov]). New Mexico is a leading producer of oil. The San Juan Basin contains the Nation's largest field of proved natural gas reserves.New Mexico's Permian Basin holds three of the 100 largest oil fields in the United States.(www.earthlab.com).

(Photo from geoinfo.nmt.edu)

Current Science Information:
The first thing we do to obtain the oil is by drilling it out of the ground. The drill does not have to strictly go up and down, they can now move the drills side to side, and even horizontal underground to get the material that we call "Crude" oil. This oil is hundreds of miles underground, and was made from plants and animals that died thousands of years before; that is why it is also called "fossil fuel." Crude Oil, which is the unprocessed black colored oil that they originally pull up from the ground. It is made up of several different hydrocarbons that all have different boiling points. They contain about 84% carbon, 14% hydrogen, 1-3% sulfur, and 1% of each nitrogen, oxygen, metals, and salts (www.osha.gov).

The major classes of hydrocarbons in oil are Paraffins (CnH2n+2), Aromatics (C6H5-Y), and Napthenes/Cycloalkanes (CnH2n). n being a whole number (1-20 usually) and Y being the long, straight molecule that connects to the benzene ring (science.howstuffworks.com)

Refining Process:
An Oil Refinery in Abq, NM (Photo from gp-radar.com)

This is the process that separates the oils into the numerous items that we use today. The oldest and most used method is fractional distillation, which is where you heat the oil hotter and hotter until the separate fractions are easily removable from one another. The newer method is by chemical processing; there are several ways to achieve this method. Conversion is one of them, and it includes using different fractions in order to make new ones, another way is by breaking the hydrocarbon chains, which now-a-days allows refineries to make the high demand gasoline, for a combustion engine, from diesel fuel (science.howstuffworks.com).

(The older, more common process of fractional distillation. Photo from http://www.docbrown.info)

For chemical processing, refineries remove impurities from the fractions, and are then able to combine them (either in their crude, or clean form) to create the products they need. They then store their products until they are needed.

In 1913, Thermal Cracking was produced to help gasoline powered vehicles get their power, it was especially used in the 1930's to power vehicles used during World War I. This process puts the fractions under pressure and heat to break the large molecules into smaller ones, which changes the structure, for example, from diesel to gasoline (www.osha.gov). Another method is Alteration, which involved rearranging the molecules in the chains to form difference products.

Benefits:
"The extraction of oil and gas also provides important tax revenues,rents, and royalties that fund education and other activities in the state.The royalties received from the oil and gas industry provide critical legacy revenue for future generations of New Mexicans, and helps ensure that higher education, and K-12 education receives the benefits from today's oil and gas extraction activities." ([|www.energyadvancesnewmexico.com]). Easily combustible, and produces high energy upon combustion helping in locomotion and in the generation of electricity and various other forms of energy, and easily distributed all over the world through rail roads and sea tankers.Also large amounts of electricity can be generated in one place using a lot of oil.([|wiki.answers.com]). Oil produces alot of energy for people to use in there everyday routine and it is easiliy distributed and is not expensive at all. Heating houses, fueling our vehicles,and helping out our economy.

Drawbacks:
(An oil spill in the Mexican Gulf. Photo From www. topnews.ae)

When we burn large amounts of oil it creates large amounts of carbon dioxide, then carbon dioxide traps heat into the earth's atmosphere. Crude oil is a mixture of many different compounds, many that are highly toxic. Oil drilling can potentially have negative environmental effects. Drilling can also disturb local ecosystems, and destroy wild life habitat. Oil drilling is also an energy consuming process that releases pollutants into the air. Oil spills can result in immediate and long term environmental damage.

(A victim from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. Photo from http://www.onthisdeity.com)

= References =

Freudenrich, C., & Ph.D.. (n.d.). HowStuffWorks "How Oil Refining Works". //HowStuffWorks "Science"//. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/oil-refining.htm
 * Broadhead, R., & Kelley, S. (n.d.). Frequently Asked Questions About Oil and Gas. //New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources//. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from geoinfo.nmt.edu/faq/energy/petroleum/home.html
 * Clovis Carbon Footprint. (n.d.). //Earthlab//. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from www.earthlab.com/carbon-footprint/New-Mexico/Clovis-carbon-calculator.aspx
 * Extreme Oil . The Science | PBS. (n.d.). //PBS: Public Broadcasting Service//. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/extremeoil/science/index.html
 * New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. (n.d.). //Oil and Gas Program//. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from geoinfo.nmt.edu/resources/petroleum/home.html
 * Oil and Natural Gas. (n.d.). //LFC Financial Facts//. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/lfc/lfcdocs/finance%20facts%20oil%20and%20gas.pdf
 * gcse 3. ALKANES - saturated hydrocarbons, molecule structure, uses, properties, complete combustion burning fuel, reaction chlorine, structural isomers, methane CH4, ethane C2H6, propane C3H8, butane C4H10 chemistry revision notes igcse revising KS4 scien. (n.d.). //WELCOME to DOC BROWN'S SCIENCE Biology Chemistry Physics gcse igcse GCE UK A AS A2 level HOMEPAGE docbrown chemhelp@tiscali.co.uk iphone ipad notepad notebook netbook epad tablet android NOT apps www.wpbschoolhouse.btinternet.co.uk//. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from http://www.docbrown.info/page04/OilProducts03.htm
 * -products., & etc.. (n.d.). OSHA TECHNICAL MANUAL - SECTION IV: CHAPTER 2. //Occupational Safety and Health Administration - Home//. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from http://www.osha.gov/dts/osta/otm/otm_iv/otm_iv_2.html
 * Primeval Methods to Gulp Oil Spills in Gulf | TopNews Arab Emirates. (n.d.). //TopNews Arab Emirates | Latest News from Business, Technology and Sports//. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from http://topnews.ae/content/22138-primeval-methods-gulp-oil-spills-gulf
 * What are the advantages and disadvantages of oil as an energy source. (n.d.). //The Q&A wiki//. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_advantages_and_disadvantages
 * Oil refinery. (n.d.). //Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology//. Retrieved December 16, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/o/oil_refinery.htm

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