Ch En 310

Reading Questions for Class 8

From Boyle et al., Chapter 7, Section 2

Topic: Oil and Natural Gas Reserves and Alternatives

A. Reserves of Oil and Gas

1. Please explain Hubbert’s analysis of U.S. oil production, how this has been applied to world oil production, and how this impacts your life. 

2. Read the article by EIA experts on the future of oil (see http://www.et.byu.edu/~tom/classes/310/ReadingQuestions/Long%20Term%20Oil%20Supply.pdf ).  Why is this estimate of the year of peak oil production later than from the Hubbert-type analysis?

3. What will happen when the peak in the world oil production curve is passed?

B. Alternate Sources for Oil and Gas

4. Discuss the technology and prospects for using coal as an alternate source for liquid fuels.  Why did South Africa spend so much money to develop this process?

5. Tar sands are now referred to in Canada as “Oil Sands.”  What are they, where are they located, how much is there, and how much are we using it?  (Additional material: http://www.energy.gov.ab.ca/OurBusiness/oilsands.asp )

6. What is oil shale, where is it located, how much is there, and why are we not using it?
Additional material:
http://ostseis.anl.gov/guide/oilshale/index.cfm
http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/reserves/publications/Pubs-NPR/40010-373.pdf

7. Please review what heavy oil is, where it is located, how much there is, what makes it undesirable compared to conventional sources, and what is done to make heavy oil useful.
Possible resources:
http://www.slb.com/content/services/solutions/reservoir/heavy_oil.asp

8. Discuss the difference between petroleum, bitumen, kerogen, and coal.

Write a question that will help the next class better study an important point in this chapter, or that will serve as a good discussion topic.