The significance of oil as a resource

Oil production
In 2013 global oil production was around 94mil bbl/d (barrels per-day). Oil producing countries are divided into OPEC(Qatar, Libya, Ecuador) and non-OPEC(US, Russia, Norway) countries. OPEC oil production averaged at 30.0 million bbl/d in 2013, a drop from the previous year, primarily reflecting increased outages in Libya, Nigeria, and Iraq. Non-OPEC oil production averaged about 54 million bbl/d in 2013.

Oil extraction
Oil reserves are divided into conventional and unconventional

Conventional. Oil that comes in liquid form which is transportable and possible to refine. It
represents the form that is the most desirable to extract since it is of high quality. Unconventional. Oil that comes in other forms that is much more difficult to extract, let it be in deep waters or as oil shale, and of lower quality.

Oil consumption
Gasoline The largest industrial use of oil is standard gasoline and diesel. Any industry that needs to move something from one place to another uses gasoline to do so. Residual Oil Residual oil is used for things like plastic bags, asphalt, polyester and makeup. Global oil consumption in 2013 averaged at about 96 million barrels per day.

Environmental cost

Toxicity Crude oil is a mixture of many different kinds of organic compounds, many of which are highly toxic and cancer causing (carcinogenic).

Acid rain Sulfur dioxide from the sulfur in the oil, combine with water in the atmosphere to create acid rain. Acid rain causes many problems such as dead trees and acidified lakes with dead fish. Coral reefs in the world's oceans are killed by acidic water caused by acid rain. Climate change Humans burning large amounts of petroleum create large amounts of CO2 (carbon dioxide) gas that traps heat in the earth's atmosphere. Also some organic compounds, such as methane released from petroleum drilling or from the petroleum itself, trap heat several times more efficiently than CO2. Oil spill
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially marine areas, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually applied to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but spills may also occur on land. Oil spills may be due to releases of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products (such as gasoline, diesel) and their by-products, heavier fuels used by large ships such as bunker fuel, or the spill of any oily refuse or waste oil.