![]() ![]() Many of the products we use every day, such as cell phones, makeup, sunglasses, computers, medications and fertilizers for agriculture are made with natural gas as a feedstock. Natural gas is used mainly for heating homes and commercial buildings, cooking and power generation and in the petrochemical industry. Natural gas has accounted for almost one third of the world's energy consumption growth during the last decade, and the use of natural gas is expected to increase in the future as well. Natural gas meets about 25 % of total world energy demand, and thus, like oil, plays a very important part in meeting global energy needs. How is natural gas used and what is driving growth in consumption? ![]() Pipelines are used to transport oil from the Norwegian shelf to four onshore terminals: Sture, Mongstad and Kårstø in Norway, and Teesside in the UK. They do not carry oil directly from the offshore fields, but from onshore terminals, which are supplied either by shuttle tankers or by pipelines from the oil fields. Larger tankers are used to carry oil that is to be transported further, for example from Norway to Mediterranean countries, Asia or America. Shuttle tankers are usually used for relatively short transport distances, and most Norwegian oil is therefore delivered to destinations in north-western Europe. Oil platforms often have limited storage capacity, and regular calls by shuttle tankers are needed to avoid stoppages because of capacity problems. These are specialized tankers that take on oil via offshore loading buoys on the oil fields. ![]() Oil is transported from many fields on the Norwegian shelf to the markets using shuttle tankers. The oil from the Norwegian continental shelf is either transported by ship or through pipelines to a final delivery point on land. See article about the pipeline system for more information about oil pipelines on the Norwegian shelf. However, several major oil producers, including Russia and the US, are not OPEC members. OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, accounts for about 30 % of global crude oil production. The US was the largest oil producer in 2021, followed by Saudi Arabia and Russia. Other main uses of oil is to generate electricity and heat, and as an input for asphalt. Moreover, oil is used as fuel in other energy-intensive industries such as iron, steel and cement production. The petrochemical industry also includes the manufacture of other oil-based products such as paints, cosmetics and textiles and so on. The second largest sector in terms of oil consumption is the petrochemical industry, and manufacturing of plastics is the most important branch of this sector. The transport sector consumes more oil than any other sector. Oil meets about 31 % of total world energy demand. In 2021, oil was the largest energy source globally, followed by coal and gas. This results in efficient recovery of the oil, and the gas is stored for possible recovery in the future. Reinjection is often used to maintain reservoir pressure and displace the oil. On some fields, gas is reinjected into the reservoirs. Some of the gas is used to generate power on the fields, and small amounts are flared for safety purposes. Naphtha and condensate are liquid at room temperature, while the lighter wet gas components can be made liquid either by cooling or by adding pressure. In addition there are heavier condensates which some classify as a separate product. Wet gas, or NGL (Natural Gas Liquids), consists of a mixture of heavier gases (ethane, propane, butane and naphtha). Dry gas is often referred to as natural gas, and consists mainly of methane, but also a little ethane. When necessary, the gas is separated from the oil before the rich gas is treated in a processing facility that separates the dry and wet gas components. Rich gas, or crude natural gas, is a mixture of various gases. The composition also determines how light or heavy (viscous) the oil is. The quality of the oil depends on several factors, for example how much and which substances, such as wax and sulphur, it contains. The composition varies from field to field. The production from different reservoirs varies from oil with low gas content to almost dry gas (methane with only small amounts of other gases).Ĭrude oil is a fluid that is a combination of different types of hydrocarbons. To get marketable products, the production from the reservoirs must be separated and treated. The production from different reservoirs (the well stream) contains oil, gas and water in various combinations. ![]()
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