How much oil is there in the world Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

How much oil is there in the world - Term Paper Example Tiny plants and animals and die and sink to the bottom of shallow waters. Then clay and silt cover the thin layer of organisms which begin to decay. The process becomes repetitive and after millions of years, the clay sand, silt from rocks, and the decomposed organisms beneath the rock layers generate into a dark heavy liquid now known as OIL. With reference to Lee’s article â€Å"What is Oil?† it is used facilitate a variety of things. It contributes to the creation of fuel, paint, detergent, trash bags etc once it is refined. However, the most widespread use of oil is the fueling of our vehicles, as oil is the main source of locomotion. History of Oil Historians speculate that oil has been flowing since the time of Herodotus-(a Greek Historian during the 5th century), but was being used as a liniment of medicine and not as fuel and also for building purposes. The history of uses’ website explained that oil flows from springs just like water. Some of these sprin gs were in western Pennsylvania and obtained by the Seneca Indians, who used it for medicinal purposes. The site also reported that that the first oil well was drilled by Edwin Drake in 1859 in the area. An article from bydesign.com reported that the well was 69 feet deep and produced 15 barrels a day. The area quickly blossomed and the modern oil industry was born. Then later Texas and Oklahoma became the centers of US production. In addition the Middle East became a major supplier for US use as well after World War II. In previous generations, oil as a fuel was used as kerosene for lighting, replacing animal, vegetable and coal oils. It also became popular in the furnaces then the most popular with the development of automobiles. Presently all modes of transportation; cars, trucks, buses trains, ships or airplanes are fueled by oil, diesel or gasoline. Fuel Oil has become so predominantly essential that it is burnt to produce electricity which has always been a coal’s job. Locating the Oil The Science of locating oil is done through a variety of methods and is the main responsibility of Geologists. First they have to find the best conditions for an oil trap and best sources of rock as well as reservoir rocks and entrapment. According to Craig Freudenrich PhD, and Jonathon Strickland, geologists, many years ago interpreted surface features, surface rocks and soil types and perhaps some small core samples obtained by shallow drilling as a method of locating oil. In comparison to the modern era they now use sensitive gravity meters to measure changes in the Earth’s gravitational field which could indicate flowing oil. In addition they use sensitive magnetometers to measure changes in the earth’s magnetic field caused by flowing oil. Furthermore, they can detect the smell of hydrocarbons, using sensitive electronic noses called sniffers. However, the most common method used in detecting oil is seismology. By using seismology, it creates shoc k waves that pass through hidden rock layers and interpret the waves that are reflected at the surface. The shock waves are created by either of the following; a compressed air gun which shoots pulses of air into the water, or a thumper truck which slams heavy plates into the ground or by explosives which are detonated after being drilled into the ground or thrown overboard. As marked by Freudenrich and Strickland, the shock waves created by seismology