Philip Moufarrige working on Oil Industry

Oil is one of the most important raw materials that we have. Every day there are a hundreds of things which are used that are made from oil or gas. Also, oil and gas are important because of the job opportunities they provide to many people. Ten out of thousand people work in gas as well oil industries.

How is oil and gas formed?

• Both Gas as well as crude oil is found underground.
• If you study well, most of the world is covered by sea. The sea further contains tiny animals and plants. These tiny animals and plants are referred to as planktons. They get their energy to live and multiply it from sunlight. When they die they go under the surface of the bottom of the sea
• The planktons which die millions of years ago are the source for today's oil and gas
• The Dead Sea creatures get buried by sand and mud at the bottom of the sea. It is said that
  the sun's energy gets stored in the bodies of the dead creatures as well plants. The dead bodies later start decaying.
•  From over a million of years the dead animals and plants have been buried deeper and deeper. The squashed and solid creatures turn into oil and gas.
• The force and temperature of deep, underground turns the chemicals of decaying animals and plants into crude oil and gas.

How do we get oil and gas out of the ground?

According to Philip Moufarrige oil and gas both get trapped in pockets underground such as where the rocks are folded into an umbrella shape.  Oil and the gases can move through the rocks with the gaps between the grains. They further move upwards from the source rock where they can be formed. When they meet a cap rock, the oil and gases get trapped in it. A well is drilled so crude oil as well as other liquids can travel the bore hole. Finding a gas and oil trapped deep underground drilling is way too complicated and also very expensive.  It can cost about a million of pound to drill.

The liquids that are underground are said to be a mixture of crude oil, gas and water. Before transporting both of these, they need to be separated.

How are oil and gas transported?

Usually, oil and gas are found far away or under the sea. Further, they are transported to an oil refinery through a pipeline or tanker. Crude oil is found in places like jungle, deserts or the arctic. They are transported through the pipelines by the rail, road, boats along canals and rivers.

Know about Oil industry from the expert Philip Moufarrige

Oil is the lifeblood of the industrialised nation. Since mid 1950’s, the Oil has become world's most important source of energy. The oil products underpin modern society, and mostly supply energy to power industries, heat homes and provide fuel for vehicles and aeroplanes that carry goods and people all over the world.

 Why is oil important?

According to Philip Moufarrige, oil meets about 97 per cent of the demand of the UK transport sector. In addition, it also benefits our lives with the production of everyday essentials. Further, Oil’s refined products are used to manufacture almost all the chemical products, like fertilisers, plastics, detergents, paints and also medicines. There are a whole host of other products that you might not even think or expect.

It's easy and very understandable why oil is important in our lives. No one can drive their car unless it is filled with petrol or gasoline. Even the school bus requires gasoline. Aeroplanes too require petrol to fly otherwise they would be on the ground stand still and rusting.

Other than being used in vehicles oil is use in several other products too like cosmetics, plastic goods and toys, nylon clothing, farm fertilizers, and other detergents. Even the waxes which are used for chewing gum are made from oil. Around one-fourth of the oil is used for chemical plants, heating and other industries.

Use of Oil in our everyday lives

Here are few examples of how we use oil in every day of our lives:

•    In school: Oil is used in ink, rulers, crayons, cartridges, coverings on books, glue, binders 

• For health: It is used as binding agent for creams, the coatings for pills, and disposable syringes.

• In home:  In contact lenses, clothing, cosmetics, nail polish, fabrics, deodorants, carpets, shampoo, paint, upholstery and detergents for washing and laundry. Its also used as a dry-cleaning fluid.

• For shopping:  In egg cartons, shopping bags, credit cards, debit cards, shopping cards, plastic milk bottles

• While cooking: Cling films, non-stick pans, storage containers

• For construction: It is used in roofing tiles, insulating material, pipes, paint.

•   On the move:  Oil is used for the petrol and diesel of cars and lorries, emergency services and trains and asphalt road surfaces

• In the office: Phones and faxes, diskettes, computer hardware, printing ink, pens, chairs. 

• For your leisure: Cassette tapes, videos, CDs, artists' paint, camera film, football boots, crash helmets, bicycle handlebar grips, tyres, trainers, shin pads, windsurfers, roller blades.