Crude oil was made over millions of years from tiny plants and animals, called plankton.

The
plankton on the left would form oil in about 150 million years time if the sea bed is not disturbed.
The plankton that lived in the Jurassic period made our crude oil.
This was the time of the dinosaurs. It was about 180,000,000 years ago
When plankton die, they fall to the bottom of the sea
The plankton are trapped under many layers of sand and mud. Over millions of years, the dead animals and
plants got buried deeper and deeper. The heat and pressure gradually turned the mud into rock and the
dead animals and plants into oil and gas.
Oil is formed over millions of years. It is held in tiny spaces in underground rock, like water in a sponge.
Some rocks have tiny spaces called pores. The rocks with these pores can hold the oil like a sponge.
The cap rock stops the oil from escaping.
Over millions of years, the rocks fold. Sometimes they form a dome shape that can catch the oil.
Oil can float up through the tiny spaces in the rock. We call these tiny spaces pores and we say that the
rock is porous. This takes millions of years.
The oil can't get through the cap rock and is trapped in the dome of rock underneath.
The cap rock stops the oil from escaping.
The rock layer underneath has tiny spaces, or pores, in it. Although it is solid, it can hold the oil like a
sponge.
The oil companies can drill into this rock to recover the oil.

How do we find oil?

Occasionally underground oil seeps to the surface. Then it is easy to find. However, most oil is buried
underground.
We have to drill through the rock to get it. Early rigs could only work on land. However, we can now use oil
platforms to get oil out from under the sea bed.
These geologists are looking for oil. They use charts of rock layers called seismic surveys.
When they find places that might hold oil, they send out a drilling team to test the site.
Oil is trapped in layers of rocks. Geologists can find the oil by looking for the tell-tale shapes of rock layers.
However, these rock layers are underground. So they have to use special ways of 'seeing' the rocks.

Special ships look for oil fields under the sea. They use sound waves to build up a picture of the rock layers.
This is called a seismic survey.
The only way to be sure if there is oil is to drill down into the rock.
This ship is making a chart of rock layers under the sea bed. This chart is called a seismic survey.
The chart is made using sound waves. The sound is produced by air guns towed behind the ship.
The sound is reflected of the bottom and picked up by special microphones - you can see them in the
picture.

Hydrocarbons
Crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons. They are often chains of carbon atoms with hydrogens attached. The
longer chains have higher boiling points, so they can be separated by distillation.
The simplest groups are the alkanes and alkenes. They all end with 'ane' and 'ene' respectively. The first bit
of their name depends on the number of carbon atoms.
The second bit of the name depends on the shape of the molecule.
A simple chain of carbons with its full complement of hydrogens is said to be saturated. These saturated,
simple, straight chain hydrocarbons are known as alkanes. Their name ends with 'ane'.

prefix

number of
carbons

meth

eth

prop

but

pent

hex

hept

So, the alkane with 3 carbon atoms is propane. This is one of the gases known as LPG.
Hydrocarbons with double bonds in them are said to be unsaturated. Their molecules contain at least one
double bond. The molecules of unsaturated hydrocarbons are able to make new bonds with other atoms.
Alkenes are unsaturated hydrocarbons with only hydrogen and carbon atoms in their molecules. So, for
example, a molecule of ethene has 2 carbon atoms (joined by a double bond) and 4 hydrogen atoms

Unsaturated alkenes are useful because they are suitable for polymerisation.
Branching chains
Sometimes two hydrocarbon molecules can have the same numbers of the same atoms but have different
arrangements of these atoms. We say they are isomers.

For example, pentane and 2-methylbutane both have 5 carbons and 12 hydrogens. However, one has a
straight chain and one has a branching chain. Although they are made of the same atoms, their chemical
properties are different.
The branching chain molecule is useful because it increases the octane number of petrol. They are
produced in the isomeriser.
Aromatics are hydrocarbons with a ring of hydrocarbons. Again, these improve the octane number of
petrol and they are made in the reformer on the refinery. The reformer takes straight chain alkanes and
turns some of them into aromatics.

The desalter

Crude oil contains a number of impurities, including salt.

Much of this is removed at the well head. However, some is left behind and must be removed to stop it
causing problems (like clogging up the heat exchangers).
The crude oil is mixed with water which dissolves the salt. The oil and water mixture is then separated using
large charged plates. The salty water is pulled to the bottom and the cleaned oil floats on top.
The desalter removes salt from the crude oil. Roll over the image to see inside.

Oil and the environment

The oil industry takes great care to protect the environment. However, occasionally an oil tanker accidentally
spills oil into the sea. If it isn't cleared up, the spilt oil can damage sea birds and other animals. It can also
make a mess on rocks and beaches. If oil is spilt, the oil company tries to stop it from spreading and will
remove it when this is practical.
Oil and other fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide when we burn them. Too much carbon dioxide can trap
heat in the Earth's atmosphere, leading to global warming. That's why we are trying to cut back on burning
these fuels
Plastic is made from oil. Getting rid of old plastic is a problem because it does not rot away. It is best to try to
recycle plastic.
It is quite rare for tankers to lose their load. When this happens, the oil floats on the waters surface, making
an oil slick.
The special rubber ring contains the slick. Tug ships drag the ring around the slick to stop it from spreading

The history of oil use

We know crude oil was being used at least three thousand years ago.

In places where oil seeped out of the ground, people burned it for heat and light. They also used it to
waterproof ships.
The ancient Chinese used crude oil for lighting and for making medicines
The modern oil industry dates back about 150 years.
The worlds first oil well was drilled in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859. It struck oil at 21 metres below ground
and produced 3,000 litres of oil a day

What is a barrel of oil

is sold between countries in quantities called barrels. (The same measurement is used to sell whisky.)
One barrel of oil is the same as:

159 litres (about 80 large fizzy drink bottle)

35 gallons (enough to fit in the petrol tanks of about 4 cars)
280 pints (a lot of bottles of milk)

The weight of a barrel depends on where the oil comes from. However, there are about 8 barrels in a tonne.
You could fit nearly 2 million barrels of oil into a football stadium - or one and a half tankers. This is how
much oil we use in the UK every day.

product

gallons from 42 in barrel

chcmical feedstock

1.2

refinery gas

1.9

petrol

19.5

kerosines

4.1

diesel fuel

9.2

lubricants

0.5

fuel oil

4.1

bitumen

1.3