petroleumfromthe ocean from the water encyclopedia（百科全书petroleumfromthe海洋的水）.docVIP

“Petroleum from the Ocean” From The Water Encyclopedia /Oc-Po/Petroleum-from-the-Ocean.html Petroleum (literally, rock oil) is a substance that has formed beneath the surface of the Earth over eons. The remains of ancient plants and animals have been buried and compressed beneath thousands of feet of sand, mud, and rock. The organic materials, under certain geological conditions, have been transformed by overburden pressure and subsurface heat into hydrocarbon compounds, such as crude oil and natural gas. Discovery and Use Petroleum substances have been discovered and used as fuels for many centuries, originally at the sites of natural seeps and leaks from fissures in the Earths surface. In the modern era, petroleum resources are sought and exploited from locations that are more difficult and hazardous, including offshore. The petroleum deposits discovered in offshore areas contain the same kind of hydrocarbon substances as those found onshore. For example, a form of natural gas called gas hydrate is available both onshore and offshore, but offshore resources are particularly of interest because of their volume and potential for future large-scale development. The reason offshore petroleum exploration and development are so prominent in this century is that many onshore petroleum resources have either been exhausted, are not economically producible, or are unable to be fully developed because of restrictions of national ownership or geopolitical problems. The expansion of resource development offshore is inevitable because of the growing demand for petroleum and petroleum products. Locations of Resources. Offshore locations where petroleum resources are being found and developed for the market occur worldwide, wherever prospects for economic development exist. Presently, the petroleum industry is investing in exploration and development of oil and gas fields in offshore locations such as Newfoundland, Alaska, California, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, Mex