Petroleum Industry  

Petroleum is vital to many industries, and is of importance to the maintenance of industrialized civilization itself, and thus is critical concern to many nations. Oil accounts for a large percentage of the world's energy consumption, ranging from a low of 32% for Europe and Asia, up to a high of 53% for the Middle East. Other geographic regions' consumption patterns are as follows: South and Central America (44%), Africa (41%), and North America (40%). The world at large consumes 30 billion barrels (4.8 km³) of oil per year, and the top oil consumers largely consist of developed nations. In fact, 24% of the oil consumed in 2004 went to the United States alone, though by 2007 this had dropped to 21% of world oil consumed.

In the US, in the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) represents companies responsible for producing, distributing, refining, transporting and marketing petroleum. This non-profit trade association was founded in 1907, and is the oldest petroleum trade association in the United States.

History

Petroleum, in one form or another, has been used since ancient times, and is now important across society, including in economy, politics and technology. The rise in importance was mostly due to the invention of the internal combustion engine, the rise in commercial aviation and the increasing use of plastic.

More than 4000 years ago, according to Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, asphalt was used in the construction of the walls and towers of Babylon; there were oil pits near Ardericca (near Babylon), and a pitch spring on Zacynthus.Great quantities of it were found on the banks of the river Issus, one of the tributaries of the Euphrates. Ancient Persian tablets indicate the medicinal and lighting uses of petroleum in the upper levels of their society.

In the 1850s, the process to distill kerosene from petroleum was invented by Ignacy Łukasiewicz, providing a cheaper alternative to whale oil. The demand for the petroleum as a fuel for lighting in North America and around the world quickly grew. The world's first commercial oil well was drilled in Poland in 1853. Oil exploration developed in many parts of the world with the Russian Empire, particularly the Branobel company in Azerbaijan, taking the lead in production by the end of the 19th century.Oil exploration in North America during the early 20th century later led to the U.S. becoming the leading producer by the mid 1900s. As petroleum production in the U.S. peaked during the 1960s, however, Saudi Arabia and Russia surpassed the U.S.

Today, about 90% of vehicular fuel needs are met by oil. Petroleum also makes up 40% of total energy consumption in the United States, but is responsible for only 2% of electricity generation. Petroleum's worth as a portable, dense energy source powering the vast majority of vehicles and as the base of many industrial chemicals makes it one of the world's most important commodities.

The top three oil producing countries are Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United States. About 80% of the world's readily accessible reserves are located in the Middle East, with 62.5% coming from the Arab 5: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, Qatar and Kuwait. A large portion of the world's total oil exists as unconventional sources, such as bitumen in Canada and Venezuela and oil shale. While significant volumes of oil are extracted from oil sands, particularly in Canada, logistical and technical hurdles remain, as oil extraction requires large amounts of heat and water, making its net energy content quite low relative to conventional crude oil. Thus, Canada's oil sands are not expected to provide more than a few million barrels per day in the foreseeable future.

Uses

The chemical structure of petroleum is heterogeneous, composed of hydrocarbon chains of different lengths. Because of this, petroleum may be taken to oil refineries and the hydrocarbon chemicals separated by distillation and treated by other chemical processes, to be used for a variety of purposes.

Fuels

The most common distillations of petroleum are fuels. Fuels include (by increasing molecular masses):

• Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
• Ethane and other short-chain alkanes
• Gasoline (Petrol)
• Diesel fuel (petrodiesel)
• Kerosene
• et fuel
• Fuel oils

Petroleum by country

Consumption statistics

This table orders the amount of petroleum consumed in 2008 in thousand barrels (bbl) per day and in thousand cubic metres (m³) per day:

Consuming Nation 2008	(1000 bbl/day)	(1000m³/day)	population in millions	bbl/year per capita
United States *	19,497.95	3,099.9	314	22.6
China	7,831.00	1,245.0	1345	2.1
Japan **	4,784.85	760.7	127	13.7
India **	2,962.00	470.9	1198	0.9
Russia *	2,916.00	463.6	140	7.6
Germany **	2,569.28	408.5	82	11.4
Brazil	2,485.00	395.1	193	4.7
Saudi Arabia (OPEC)	2,376.00	377.8	25	33.7
Canada	2,261.36	359.5	33	24.6
South Korea **	2,174.91	345.8	48	16.4
Mexico *	2,128.46	338.4	109	7.1
France **	1,986.26	315.8	62	11.6
Iran (OPEC)	1,741.00	276.8	74	8.6
United Kingdom *	1,709.66	271.8	61	10.1
Italy **	1,639.01	260.6	60	10

Source: US Energy Information Administration

Population Data:

• *   peak production of oil already passed in this state
• ** peak production of oil already passed in this state

Production

In petroleum industry parlance, production refers to the quantity of crude extracted from reserves, not the literal creation of the product.

Producing Nation	10³ bbl/d(2006)	10³ bbl/d(2007)	10³ bbl/d(2008)
Saudi Arabia (OPEC)	10,665	10,234	10,782
Russia *	9,677	9,876	9,789
United States *	8,331	8,481	8,514
Iran (OPEC)	4,148	4,043	4,174
China	3,845	3,901	3,973
Canada **	3,288	3,358	3,350
Mexico *	3,707	3,501	3,185
United Arab Emirates (OPEC)	2,945	2,948	3,046
Kuwait (OPEC)	2,675	2,613	2,742
Venezuela (OPEC) *	2,803	2,667	2,643
Norway *	2,786	2,565	2,466
Brazil	2,166	2,279	2,401
Iraq (OPEC) ***	2,008	2,094	2,385
Algeria (OPEC)	2,122	2,173	2,179
Nigeria (OPEC)	2,443	2,352	2,169
Angola (OPEC)	1,435	1,769	2.014
Libya (OPEC)	1,809	1,845	1,875
United Kingdom	1,689	1,690	1,584
Kazakhstan	1,388	1,445	1,429
Qatar (OPEC)	1,141	1,136	1,207
Indonesia	1,102	1,044	1,051
India	854	881	885
Azerbaijan	648	850	875
Argentina	802	791	792
Oman	743	714	761
Malaysia	729	703	727
Egypt	667	664	631
Colombia	544	543	601
Australia	552	595	586
Ecuador (OPEC)	536	512	505
Sadan	380	466	480
Syria	449	446	426
Equatorial Guinea	386	400	359
Thailand	334	349	361
Victnam	362	352	314
Yemen	377	361	300
Denmark	344	314	289
Gabon	237	244	248
South Africa	204	199	195
Turkmenistan	No data	180	189

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

• * Peak production of conventional oil already passed in this state
• ** Although Canadian conventional oil production is declining, total oil production is increasing as oil sands production grows. If oil sands are included, it has the world's second largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia.
• *** Though still a member, Iraq has not been included in production figures since 1998