While not technically "oil spills," oil
An oil seep is a natural leak of crude oil and gas that migrates up through the seafloor and ocean depths. Did you know that naturally occurring oil seeps from the seafloor are the largest source of oil entering the world ocean?
An offshore drilling rig like Deepwater Horizon can reach 10,000 feet to the ocean's floor -- then drill over 30,000 more feet into the rock to extract the oil.
Crude oil is a naturally occurring fossil fuel - meaning it comes from the remains of dead organisms. Crude oil is made up of a mixture of hydrocarbons - hydrogen and carbon atoms. It exists in liquid form in underground reservoirs in the tiny spaces within sedimentary rocks.
Land-based runoff is the top source of oil to the sea and up to 20 times higher than it was 20 years ago, according to a new report of North American waters from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The runoff flows from cities, highways and vehicles to rivers and the ocean.
Venezuela has the largest amount of oil reserves in the world with more than 300 billion barrels in reserve. Saudi Arabia has the second-largest amount of oil reserves in the world with 297.5 billion barrels.
Currently the conventional oil reserves – i.e. those which can be recovered easily and affordably using today's technology – are estimated to be a good 157 billion tonnes. Of this amount, 26 per cent (41 billion tonnes) are to be found in offshore areas.
By 1906, that number was 126 million barrels per year. Today, the U.S. produces about 6.8 billion barrels of oil every year. According to OPEC, more than 70 million barrels are produced worldwide every day. That is almost 49,000 barrels per minute.
Oil can last up to 50 years, natural gas up to 53 years, and coal up to 114 years. Yet, renewable energy is not popular enough, so emptying our reserves can speed up.
When oil and gas is extracted, the voids fill with water, which is a less effective insulator. This means more heat from the Earth's interior can be conducted to the surface, causing the land and the ocean to warm. We looked at warming trends in oil and gas producing regions across the world.
World Oil Reserves
The world has proven reserves equivalent to 46.6 times its annual consumption levels. This means it has about 47 years of oil left (at current consumption levels and excluding unproven reserves).
There are four primary ways oil can end up in the ocean: natural seeps, consumption, extraction, and transportation of oil.
Oil reserves are found all over the world. However, some have produced more oil than others. The top oil producing countries are Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United States, Iran, and China.
There are species of marine bacteria in several families, including Marinobacter, Oceanospiralles, Pseudomonas, and Alkanivorax, that can eat compounds from petroleum as part of their diet. In fact, there are at least seven species of bacteria that can survive solely on oil [1].
The world's largest oil field, Saudi Arabia's Ghawar Field, for instance, produces around 4 million barrels of oil per day, accounting for well over 1/3 of Saudi Arabia's total production.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) International Energy Outlook 2021 (IEO2021), the global supply of crude oil, other liquid hydrocarbons, and biofuels is expected to be adequate to meet the world's demand for liquid fuels through 2050.
Changes in consumer patterns and the emergence of new technology driven by increases in the price of oil will prevent the oil supply from ever physically running out.
Saturn's orange moon Titan has hundreds of times more liquid hydrocarbons than all the known oil and natural gas reserves on Earth, according to new data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The hydrocarbons rain from the sky, collecting in vast deposits that form lakes and dunes.
The Norwegian and British sectors hold most of the large oil reserves. It is estimated that the Norwegian sector alone contains 54% of the sea's oil reserves and 45% of its gas reserves.
Oil rigs currently can reach about 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) into the ocean.
Over time, oil waste weathers (deteriorates) and disintegrates by means of photolysis (decomposition by sunlight) and biodegradation (decomposition due to microorganisms). The rate of biodegradation depends on the availability of nutrients, oxygen, and microorganisms, as well as temperature.