Petroleum, also known as crude oil, is a brown-black flammable viscous liquid mined from deep underground. Mainly a mixture of various alkanes, cycloalkanes, and aromatic hydrocarbons. It is a mixture formed by organisms in ancient oceans or lakes over a long period of evolution, and is a fossil fuel like coal. Next, let’s take a look at how oil is formed.
Reasons for the formation of oil:
Biological oil generation theory
Research shows that the generation of oil takes at least 2 million years. In the oil reservoirs that have been discovered today Among them, the oldest one is 500 million years old. In the long history of the earth's continuous evolution, there were some "special" periods, such as the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. After a large number of plants and animals died, the organic matter that made up their bodies continued to decompose and mix with sediment or carbonate sediments and other substances. Make up the sedimentary layer. As sediments continue to accumulate and thicken, the temperature and pressure rise. As this process continues, the sedimentary layers turn into sedimentary rocks, and then sedimentary basins are formed, which provides the basic geological environment for the generation of oil. Most geologists believe that oil, like coal and natural gas, was formed gradually over a long period of compression and heating of ancient organic matter. According to this theory, oil is formed by the transformation of the corpses of prehistoric marine animals and algae. Plants on land generally form coal. Over a long period of geological time, these organic matter were mixed with silt and buried under thick sedimentary rocks. Under the high temperature and pressure underground, they gradually transform, first forming waxy oil shale, and later degenerating into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons. Because these hydrocarbons are lighter than nearby rocks, they seep upward into nearby rock formations until they penetrate into the tight, impenetrable, and itself porous rock formations above. The oil gathered together in this way forms an oil field. Oil is obtained from oil fields by drilling and pumping. Geologists call the temperature range in which oil forms the "oil window." If the temperature is too low, oil cannot form; if the temperature is too high, natural gas will form.
The theory of abiotic oil formation
The theory of abiotic oil formation was proposed by astronomer Thomas Gold in Russian petroleum geologist Nikolai Ku Developed on the basis of the theory of Nikolai Kudryavtsev. The theory is that there is already a lot of carbon in the Earth's crust, and some of this carbon naturally exists in the form of hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons are lighter than the water in the rock voids and therefore seep upward along the rock gaps. Biomarkers in oil are caused by heat-loving microorganisms that live in the rock. It has nothing to do with oil itself. This theory has only a few supporters among geologists. It is generally used to explain unexplained oil inflows in some oil fields, but this phenomenon rarely occurs.
The role of petroleum:
After petroleum is processed and refined, the products that can be obtained can be roughly divided into four categories:
Petroleum fuel
Petroleum fuel is the most widely used oil product. It can be divided into the following five types according to its purpose and scope of use:
1. Ignition engine fuels include aviation gasoline, vehicle gasoline, etc.
2. Jet engine fuel Jet fuel includes aviation kerosene.
3. Compression ignition engine fuel Diesel engine fuel includes high-speed, medium-speed and low-speed diesel.
4. Liquefied petroleum gas fuel is liquid hydrocarbon.
5. Boiler fuel includes furnace fuel oil and ship fuel oil.
Lubricating oil and grease
Lubricating oil and grease are used to reduce friction between parts, protect them to extend their service life and save power. Their quantity only accounts for about 5% of all petroleum products, but there are many varieties.
Bitumen and petroleum coke
They are obtained from further processing in the production of fuels and lubricants, and their output is about a few percent of the crude oil processed.
Solvents and petrochemical products
The latter are important basic raw materials and intermediates in the organic synthesis industry.
Oil market trends:
As the market expects sufficient international crude oil supply, U.S. crude oil inventories will continue to increase, and international oil prices continued to fall on the 14th.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release U.S. commercial crude oil inventory data for the week ending May 10 on the 15th. The market is expected to increase by 450,000 barrels to 396 million barrels. Rising crude oil inventories have raised concerns about sufficient crude supply and weakening U.S. demand for oil. The United States is the world's largest oil consumer.
In addition, the International Energy Agency released a report predicting that oil production in North America will increase significantly in the next five years, which has also depressed oil prices. The report pointed out that with the improvement of technology, the substantial increase in North American oil supply will have a profound impact on global crude oil market production, and the good news will ease the tension between market supply and demand in the past few years.
As of the close of the day, the price of light crude oil futures for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by US$0.96 to close at US$94.21 per barrel, a decrease of 1%.
The price of London Brent crude oil futures for June delivery fell by 0.22 US dollars to close at 102.6 US dollars per barrel, a decrease of 0.21%.
The current oil price trend is somewhat similar to that in 2007. If there is the same breakthrough as in 2007, then the subsequent accelerated upward trend is also expected to occur. In addition, crude oil prices in euros also saw a bullish breakout, further confirming the strength of crude oil. The S&P Index, which is highly synchronized with crude oil trends, also suggests that oil prices will continue to rise.
From this, Citi concluded: If North Sea Brent crude oil breaks through the resistance of $119 and $127/128.40, it will not be too difficult to hit the 2008 high.
Price factors
Generally speaking, oil prices may refer to the following three different prices: either it refers to the spot price, or it refers to the price traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange in Oklahoma. Supply prices in Cushing, MA, or Salom supply prices on the International Petroleum Exchange. Different oils can have very different prices depending on their specific gravity, sulfur content and origin. Most oil is not bought and sold on the market, but is traded on an over-the-counter basis, and its price is generally set with reference to prices given by a pricing agency such as Platts. The International Petroleum Exchange said 65% of oil traded was priced below the exchange's quoted price for North Sea Brent crude.
Many people accuse OPEC of controlling oil prices, pointing out that the actual value of oil extraction is only about two dollars a barrel. OPEC counters that extracting oil in the first place is not just about extraction, but that the value of previous exploration, drilling, etc. must also be included. In addition, the lowest extraction value cannot be used as the criterion. The extraction value in many places is higher than the two dollars per barrel mentioned above. And because the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries controls oil prices to a certain extent by controlling production volume, some oil fields such as those in the North Sea can be exploited. Furthermore OPEC's capabilities are often mistakenly overestimated. Investment in the oil industry was very low in the 1990s due to low oil prices. Especially now the price of exploring new oil fields is very high. This left OPEC with no room to expand production to keep oil prices stable when oil prices soared in the early 2000s.
Oil prices are closely related to the economic status of the global macroeconomics, so oil prices are a key price. Some economists say high oil prices have a negative impact on global economic growth. Although high oil prices are generally thought to be caused by economic growth, this shows that the relationship between the two is very unstable.
Russia’s oil production increased by 1.6% year-on-year to 256 million tons. Russia's oil production is 42.228 million tons, with an average of 10.318 million barrels extracted day and night.
With the development of the world, non-renewable energy sources. The amount of oil in storage is getting smaller and smaller, and the price is rising.
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Oil