FORMATION OF CRUDE OIL

• Oil and gas are chemicals made just of two

elements: carbon and hydrogen.
• The microscopic plants and animals that lived
in the ocean millions of years ago sank to the
bottom of the sea.
• Buried deeper and deeper under the surface of
the earth, heat transformed them into
hydrocarbons.
 marine carbon methane
H:C ratio
organic dioxide evolved
evolved km
matter 20oC buried

(decarboxlyation)
1.0

kerogen 60oC 2.0

3.0
90oC
petroleum 4.0
liquids
120oC
5.0

asphalt,
bitumen 200oC
Conversion of Kerogen

Organic matter: 1%

• Kerogen 90%
• Bitumen 10%
 WHAT KEROGEN IS
 Defined by solubility:
Organic Matter insoluble in organic solvents because
of the large molecular weight up to several thousand
Daltons (Da, atomic mass unit)
 Defined by petroleum:
• Organic Matter capable of producing petroleum
• End result of diagenesis stage during the process of petroleum
formation is conversion of organic matter to kerogen

Extraction method alters kerogen properties:

physical, compositional, and structural!

• Can be mixed with other insoluble OM: tar, asphaltene,

bitumen
 Ingredient for generating kerogen
• For kerogen to be generated, organic matter must be present in
abundance
• Organic matter is accumulated mostly in a dispersed state in
predominantly clay-sized marine deposits
• It comprises mainly algae and plants, and some animal matter
However, the type and amount of kerogen generation from
organic matter in a basin depends on:

nature of the organic matter in the sediments

abundance of the organic matter
thermal maturity (degree of cooking by heating) of the
organic matter during burial
nature and type of environment in which the organic
matter accumulated
Kerogens are composed of a variety of organic
materials, including
•algae,
•pollen,
•wood,
•Vitrinite ( a shiny component of coal), and
•structure less material.

The types of kerogens present in a rock largely

control the type of hydrocarbons generated in that
rock. Different types of kerogen contain different
amounts of hydrogen relative to carbon and oxygen.
The hydrogen content of kerogen is the controlling
factor for oil vs. gas yields from the primary
hydrocarbon-generating reactions.
 COMPOSITION OF KEROGEN
• Organic matter is divided into:
1. Humic OM: results in the formation of coal & gas.
2.Sapropelic OM: gives rise to liquid & gaseous HCs.

• On average, the composition of organic matter in sediment is as

follows:
 40% Proteins
 40% Carbohydrates
 10% Lipids
 10% Lignin

• These materials are supplied by: Trees, Herbaceous plants, Fungi,

Algae, Protozoa, Bacteria, and Faeces

• All of these + Time + Temperature + Pressure = KEROGEN

 CLASSIFICATION OF KEROGEN

• The extreme types of disseminated organic matter

correspond to the class of Kerogen formed.

• According to the van Krevelen diagram, kerogens

can be classified based on the ratios of H/C and O/C.

• The different classifications include:

Type I kerogen
Type II kerogen
Type III kerogen
Type IV kerogen
 Type I kerogen or Liptinite
• Rich in lipids particularly aliphatic chains with derivates of oils, fats, &
waxes

• Derived from algae present in fresh water lakes & lagoons.

• Abundant in lacustrine source rocks.

• High proportion of H:C ratio (1.6- 1.8) and low O:C ratio (0.06)

• Usually with the exception of a few algae (e.g. Botryococcus sp.) most
of the organic matter is unrecognizable. The prolific oil shales of
Colorado, Utah, Wyoming (Green River shales) seem to result from a
combination of both algae and microbial lipids.

• Oil prone; yields high (up to 80%).

 Type II kerogen or Exinite
• Most prolific global source rocks
• Rich in lipid
• It is an admixture of
i. Marine material - phytoplanktons , zooplanktons,
algae
ii. Terrestrial (plant) material- spores, pollen, and
cuticle

• Its assemblages dominate in the marine source rocks

• Intermediate H:C (about 1.3) & intermediate O:C (0.1)
• Oil & gas prone; yields 40—60%
• Sulphur, where present, influences the timing and rate of
maturation of Type II kerogen.
 Type III kerogen (or Vitrinite)
• Rich in lignin derived from woody land plant debris

• The debris occurs abundantly in coals

• Low H:C ratio (< 1.0) & high O:C ratio (0.15)

• Low yield for oil but gas prone

• Low in aliphatic compounds but rich in aromatic

compounds
 Type IV kerogen (or Inertinite)
• High in carbon and very low in hydrogen

• Often termed “dead-carbon”

• No effective potential to generate petroleum

Oil Shale
 Introduction

The term OIL SHALE generally refers to any

sedimentary rock that contains solid
bituminous materials that are released as
petroleum like liquids when the rock is heated
in the chemical process of Pyrolysis.

Also known as “THE ROCK THAT BURNS” .

 Oil Shale
• Formed over millions of years ago by
deposition of debris on lake beds and sea
bottoms
• Heat and pressure transformed the materials
into oil shale
 What is oil shale?
• Oil shale is rock that
contains bituminous
materials released as a
petroleum-like liquid when
heated
• To obtain oil, shale must be
heated to a high temperature
(a process called retorting)
• The resultant liquid must
then be separated and
collected
• Traditional and current
mining methods have been
used to extract the shale
before retorting
• An alternative but currently
experimental process
referred to as in situ
retorting involves heating
the oil shale while it is still
underground, and then
pumping the resulting liquid
to the surface
 Composition
• General composition of oil shale constitutes inorganic
matrix, bitumen and kerogen.
• It does not have a definite geological definition nor a specific
chemical formula, and its seams do not always have discrete
boundaries.
• Oil shale contains a lower percentage of organic matter than
coal.
• In commercial grades of oil shale the ratio of organic matter to
mineral matter lies approximately between 0.75:5 and 1.5:5.
• The organic matter in oil shale has an atomic ratio of hydrogen
to carbon (H/C) approximately 1.2 to 1.8 times lower than for
crude oil and about 1.5 to 3 times higher than for coals.
 Oil shale extraction:-

• Oil shale can be mined using one of two methods: underground

mining using the room-and-pillar method or surface mining.
• After mining, the oil shale is transported to a facility for retorting, a
heating process that separates the oil fractions of oil shale from the
mineral fraction.
• Retorting can be done above ground or underground. Also called
On-situ and In-situ respectively.
 Oil shale economics
• The various attempts to develop oil shale deposits have
succeeded only when the cost of shale-oil production in a given
region comes in below the price of crude oil or its other
substitutes.
• According to a survey , the cost of producing a barrel of oil at a
surface retorting complex in the United States, would range
between US$70–95 . This estimate considers varying levels of
Kerogen quality and extraction efficiency.
• In order to run a profitable operation, the price of crude oil
would need to remain above these levels.
• The US Department of Energy estimates that the on-
situ processing would be economic at sustained average world
oil prices above US$54 per barrel and in-situ processing would
be economic at prices above $35 per barrel.
 Barriers

• First, most of it needs to be dug out in strip mining rather that

drilled, a process that has high environmental problems.
• Once dug out, it then needs to be heated to 450-500 Degree C,
enriched with hydrogen via steam before the resulting oil is
separated. The residue is a sludge that needs to be disposed of.
• The downsides of all this are that oil shale production create
more than four times as much greenhouse gases as conventional
oil production.
Conti...

• The energy required to extract oil from oil shale is

considerable, and this could result in a low EROEI (energy
returned on energy invested) . Wastes something like 40% of
its initial energy in production.
• Only when crude prices are high does oil shale production
make economic sense feasible.
 Tar Sands
• What Are Tar Sands?
• Tar sands (also referred to as oil sands) are a
combination of clay, sand, water, and bitumen, a
heavy black viscous oil. Tar sands can be mined
and processed to extract the oil-rich bitumen,
which is then refined into oil. The bitumen in tar
sands cannot be pumped from the ground in its
natural state; instead tar sand deposits are mined,
usually using strip mining or open pit techniques,
or the oil is extracted by underground heating
with additional upgrading.
 RECOVERING BITUMEN
• Tar sands are mined and processed to generate oil
similar to oil pumped from conventional oil wells, but
extracting oil from tar sands is more complex than
conventional oil recovery.
• Recovering the bitumen is not easy, and the deposits are
either strip mined if they are near the surface, or
recovered in situ if they are in deeper beds.
• Oil sands recovery processes include extraction and
separation systems to separate the bitumen from the
clay, sand, and water that make up the tar sands.
• Bitumen also requires additional upgrading before it
can be refined. Because it is so viscous (thick), it also
requires dilution with lighter hydrocarbons to make it
transportable by pipelines.
 RECOVERING BITUMEN (contd.)

• The bitumen could be extracted by using hot

water and steam and adding some alkali to
disperse it.
• The produced bitumen is a very thick material
having a density of approximately 1.05 g/cm3.
• It is then subjected to a cracking process to
produce distillate fuels and coke.
• The distillates are hydro-treated to saturate
olefinic components.
Tar Sands Extraction and Processing

• Tar sands deposits near the surface can be

recovered by open pit mining techniques.
New methods introduced in the 1990s
considerably improved the efficiency of tar
sands mining, thus reducing the cost. These
systems use large hydraulic and electrically
powered shovels to dig up tar sands and load
them into enormous trucks that can carry up to
320 tons of tar sands per load.
Tar Sands Extraction and Processing (contd)
• After mining, the tar sands are transported to an
extraction plant, where a hot water process separates
the bitumen from sand, water, and minerals.
• The separation takes place in separation cells. Hot
water is added to the sand, and the resulting slurry is
piped to the extraction plant where it is agitated. The
combination of hot water and agitation releases
bitumen from the oil sand, and causes tiny air bubbles
to attach to the bitumen droplets, that float to the top of
the separation vessel, where the bitumen can be
skimmed off.
• Further processing removes residual water and solids.
The bitumen is then transported and eventually
upgraded into synthetic crude oil.
 Tar Sands Extraction and Processing (contd)

• About two tons of tar sands are required to produce

one barrel of oil. Roughly 75% of the bitumen can
be recovered from sand. After oil extraction, the
spent sand and other materials are then returned to
the mine, which is eventually reclaimed.
• In-situ production methods are used on bitumen
deposits buried too deep for mining to be
economically recovered. These techniques include
steam injection, solvent injection, and firefloods, in
which oxygen is injected and part of the resource
burned to provide heat. So far steam injection has
been the favored method. Some of these extraction
methods require large amounts of both water and
energy (for heating and pumping).
 ENVIRONENTAL EFFECTS
• Both mining and processing of tar sands involve a
variety of environmental impacts, such as global
warming and greenhouse gas emissions, disturbance of
mined land; impacts on wildlife and air and water
quality. The development of a commercial tar sands
industry in the U.S. would also have significant social
and economic impacts on local communities. Of
special concern in the relatively arid western United
States is the large amount of water required for tar
sands processing; currently, tar sands extraction and
processing require several barrels of water for each
barrel of oil produced, though some of the water can be
recycled.
 Tar Sands Resources

Much of the world's oil (more than 2 trillion

barrels) is in the form of tar sands, although it
is not all recoverable. While tar sands are
found in many places worldwide, the largest
deposits in the world are found in Canada
(Alberta) and Venezuela, and much of the rest
is found in various countries in the Middle
East.
 The Tar Sands Industry
• Currently, oil is not produced from tar sands on a significant commercial
level in the United States; in fact, only Canada has a large-scale
commercial tar sands industry, though a small amount of oil from tar
sands is produced commercially in Venezuela. The Canadian tar sands
industry is centered in Alberta, and more than one million barrels of
synthetic oil are produced from these resources per day. Currently, tar
sands represent about 40% of Canada's oil production, and output is
expanding rapidly. Approximately 20% of U.S. crude oil and products
come from Canada, and a substantial portion of this amount comes from
tar sands.
• Recently, prices for crude oil have again risen to levels that may make
tar-sands-based oil production in the United States commercially
attractive, and both government and industry are interested in pursuing
the development of tar sands oil resources as an alternative to
conventional oil.