Oil production and its importance for the world economy

The phrase "oil production" has long been firmly entrenched in the world lexicon and in no small measure became a symbol of the modern era. Today, this product of the earth's interior, along with its eternal companion - natural gas, is practically the uncontested basis of world energy.

The problem is added by the fact that the reserves of this unique fuel substance are irreplaceable. The reason for most wars of the past and present centuries is oil production, which sometimes grows out of a tough competitive economic struggle into armed clashes of various scale and intensity.

In addition, over the past two decades, passions have been fueled by numerous authoritative analysts, frightening the world community with gloomy forecasts that oil reserves on the planet will last for a maximum of fifty years. But, despite this, today oil production in the world is almost equivalent to its use. And the reserves of this supervalued product do not even think to be exhausted.

So what is this "apple of discord"? Oil is, from the point of view of chemistry, a natural oily liquid, consisting of various hydrocarbons of the most diverse molecular structure, from which, in fact, the grade of "black gold" and the quality of the product depend. Oil molecules can be long, branched, short, ring-closed or multi-ring carbon atomic chains.

In addition to carbon, oil also contains oxygen, sulfur and nitrogen compounds. True, in very small quantities. In total, oil can contain up to a thousand different components. This product, which is the most complex in its structure and is the most valuable for the energy industry, accumulates in the strata of porous rocks, which are called collectors.

The best reservoirs, unique natural reservoirs, are sandstone beds encased in impenetrable rocks (various types of clay and shale) that prevent the leakage of the product from this natural oil storage. Accordingly, in such conditions, oil production is much easier.

Due to its incredible energy intensity and extremely high transportability, this gift of the Earth's interior, even at the beginning of the twentieth century, took the leading place in the energy sector. With the development of science and technical disciplines, oil has received the widest application practically in all spheres of human activity.

It is also interesting that the cost of oil production is much lower than, say, coal. But its energy value is incommensurably higher. It is difficult on our planet to find a product that would play such a grandiose role in the development of human civilization as "black gold."

The technology of oil production directly depends on the geological features of the deposit and the individual conditions of occurrence of the product. The beginning of field development is always preceded by exploration and evaluation of the economic profitability of oil production. Currently, oil production is carried out by the fountain method, tubing, gas-lift, and also by the method of hydrodynamic modeling and many others.