Like other types of fossil fuels, oil is a lady of a very respectable age. The very first deposits of earth oil, according to scientists, arose another 600 million years ago. Then the oceans were much larger, and some modern islands were hidden under water, including the territories of countries where oil is extracted nowadays.
Where did the oil come from?
The oceans once boiled the life of many plants and animals, the remnants of which sank to the bottom for hundreds of millions of years. Together with the strata of the earth, they created deposits, which became more and more. Under the influence of tremendous pressure, a constant process of metamorphosis of organic residues into oil droplets took place. The pressure was so powerful that in some places, especially with the porous structure of the upper layers of the soil, these drops burst out and gradually created oil deposits. Through layers of sand and lime, oil broke out, but layers of stones often appeared on its way, it fell into traps in which all cavities and depressions were filled with liquid. Now the extraction of black gold in the world consists in attempts to drill wells to penetrate these huge filled cavities.
How are oil fields arranged?
Huge oil fields, such as in the Middle East, lie under large stone domes where oil accumulates. Deposits on the European continent are huge salt domes that push powerful stone slabs up, as a result, oil fills the formed cavities.
Oil consumption
The world that we know would be completely different if there were no oil. It’s hard to imagine how many everyday things are created from it. The synthetic fibers that make up the clothes, all the plastic used in everyday life and industry, medicines, cosmetics - all this is made from oil.
Almost half of the energy that is consumed by humanity is produced from earth oil. It is consumed by aircraft engines, as well as almost all vehicles in the world. Oil is also burned to produce electric current. The generated electricity drives industrial units and is the basis of daily life in the industrial world.
Deposits of black gold
The Middle East, primarily the Arab countries and Iran, satisfies almost half of the world's oil demand. Large oil fields are also found in Russia, the USA, African countries, for example, in Nigeria, as well as in North America. Huge deposits have been found in other places, but their development requires large financial costs and is accompanied by technical difficulties.
World oil production began in the USA. The first oil source was discovered in the USA in 1859. Oil spurted from a depth of 21 meters. The drilling method at that time was extremely simple: a heavy chisel was suspended in a wooden drill tower, which continuously crashed into the ground with noise and smashed stones. The first offshore oil rig was built in 1900 on the California coast.
New volumes of oil production in the world can be hidden under deserts or swamps, under the bottom of the seas or blocks of Antarctic ice, beyond the terrain it is difficult to recognize what is deep below, in the bowels of the earth. Therefore, the search for new oil fields is extremely complicated and requires enormous financial costs.
Reserve and mining of black gold
Oil production in the world is not an endless process. Based on existing estimates, at the current level of production, its global geological reserves will last at least 46 years, including in Saudi Arabia for 72 years, Iran - 88, Iraq - 128, Venezuela - 234, Libya - 77, Kuwait - 111, UAE - 94, Russia - 21, China - 10, USA - 11 years.
Oil production in the world (the table clearly shows this) is characterized by TOP-10 champion countries.
| Countries | Oil production billion barrels per year |
| Saudi Arabia | 4.22 |
| Russia | 3.94 |
| USA | 3.65 |
| China | 1,53 |
| Canada | 1.41 |
| Iran | 1.31 |
| UAE | 1.17 |
| Iraq | 1.09 |
| Mexico | 1,07 |
| Kuwait | 1,02 |
Oil production in different countries at different times was very different. Consider the history of countries that have become rich on black gold.
Saudi Arabia
The leader is Saudi Arabia, its oil production in the world, the table confirms this, made it an extremely rich state. Until 1938, a young kingdom called Saudi Arabia was one of the poorest countries in the world. In 1938, huge sources of oil were discovered in Saudi Arabia. Their development was prevented by the Second World War and work began only in 1946, and by 1949 the country's oil industry reached a high level. Oil has become the main source of wealth and prosperity of the kingdom. Oil exports enriched the kingdom by $ 310 billion in 2008. The entire Saudi industry is based on the oil industry. Explored oil reserves in this country today are about 260 billion barrels, and this is 24% of explored reserves on Earth. This number of discovered oil fields is growing steadily. Currently, Saudi Arabia is rightfully considered the richest country in the world.
Iran
The second largest gold producer in the world is the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran is a state that lives off oil exports. Thanks to new discoveries of fields, the country is further strengthening the status of the oil giant. More recently, a giant oil reserve with reserves of 15 billion barrels was discovered in Iran.
Kuwait
Kuwait is in third place. Thanks to oil production, the state became rich: in the 70-80s, exports made the country the richest in the world. But in the 90s, a difficult political situation caused the failure of import supplies. The Iraqi invasion almost ruined the country, destroyed its former wealth. But in recent years, the state has quickly returned to its previous level. Solid deposits of oil, about 102 billion barrels, representing 9% of all world reserves, have been found in Kuwait. The main share, about 95% of export earnings, is oil and oil products.
Look into the future
Nowadays, oil reigns everywhere. No other form can yet replace it as a source of energy. The world's annual oil production is about 4.4 billion tons. They predict that at the current level of consumption, its reserves will be enough (from known deposits) until 2025. If oil production in the world decreases and new sources are discovered, earth oil in the depths of the earth can be stretched for 150 - 1000 years. It is too small on a planetary scale. Nature needs 200 million years to create this mineral, and the current generation is wasting it for the millionth time, that is, it behaves as if after it human civilization disappears.
Sooner or later, humanity must change its way of life, manage its oil sources wisely or look for other alternative sources of energy. According to many experts, the picture of the future is as follows: the oil reserve will be used mainly for raw materials of the chemical industry for the production of plastics, medicines and other high-quality products. Vehicles, cars and trucks or planes will move thanks to hydrogen. Electric and thermal energy will be extracted from alternative renewable sources such as wind, sun and water. It remains only to protect what we have and wait for the future.