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Oil
Hi. Good morning. How are you? Today, I want to try and talk to you for 10 minutes about oil … petroleum. Let’s see how we go. This is a big topic. Three two one go.
What is oil? Well, petroleum comes from the Latin “Petra” which means “rock” and “Oleum” which means “oil”. So, it’s basically rock oil. But, of course, is not from rock. How is oil made? Well, millions of years ago, animals, plants, dinosaurs, living things died and their matter fell into the oceans and gradually, over millions of years, layers of sediment, layers of sand, built up on top of them. As this sand increased it became extremely heavy and great weight … great mass causes intense heat and pressure. And this intense heat and pressure basically cooked these animal parts and broke them down into their oils and gas. Now this oil and this gas stays in certain pockets. Some of it has disappeared. Some of it is still there, but there are pockets of oil and gas all over the world.
So, how do we use it? Well, oil has been used for thousands of years. Some oil naturally rises to the surface. Because it is in these pockets, as the Earth moves, shifts, some of it naturally comes to the surface and you get lakes of oil. And oil has been used since about 4000 years ago. It was used as an asphalt. It was put on walls to protect walls. It was also used for lighting, of course. There are signs that oil lamps were used in the temples and places like that.
Now, before oil became popular in Europe, before it took off in Europe, we used another kind of oil. Can you guess what that is? Whale oil. Basically, we used whale oil. Whales were killed, the fats were boiled down and the oil was refined, and it was used for a number of things, mainly for lighting, but it was also used to make soap and margarine. You could eat whale margarine. I wonder what that tastes like. But, it was basically used for lighting. Now, in the 19th century, with the major discoveries of oil, whale oil fell into disuse. People stopped using whale oil and they started using regular oil, petroleum. Now, it was again mostly used for lighting. Almost all of the oil that was found and was shipped was used for lighting in the cities. So, oil’s primary use was lighting. However, with the invention of the combustion engine, with the invention of the automobile, the use of oil, the requirement for oil, the need for oil, rocketed … skyrocketed. Suddenly, we weren’t using it so much for lighting, we were using it for our cars, our vehicles. And then, of course, with the discovery that you could make electricity by burning oil, it took off even more.
Right now, we use oil for our power. We use it for our vehicles. We also use it for plastic. Everything we have that is plastic is made of oil. However, not as much oil goes into making plastic as you think. About 10 to 12% of total oil goes into plastic. About 75% of our total oil goes to making electricity. So, if we could move into greener renewable energy sources, of course, we could save a lot of the oil. We’ll talk about that in a bit.
So, how do we get the oil? Well, as I said, some of it naturally rises to the surface. That’s pretty easy to get. Some of it we have to pump. You drill down into these pockets of oil and then you basically pump the oil up using machine pumps. A lot of oil is found under the sea. Of course, most of our Earth is covered in sea, so it’s going to be logical that most of the oil is under the sea. To get that, of course, you have to use oil rigs, which basically float on the sea, and pump … drill way down into the ground and pump the oil up. In 1994, the first few oil rigs drilled about a kilometer down into the ground. Now, they can drill about three or four kilometers down and pump the oil up from down there. There is also shale oil, which is a type of rock that has lots of oil in it. You can actually burn this rock. And they get that out by heating it and refining the oil you get from it. So, there are many different ways of getting oil.
How much oil is there? Well, we’ve all been taught from a young age that there is not enough oil, we’re going to run out. According to research, there are about 1.6 trillion barrels of oil left on the earth, that we know about. Of course, there are many more areas that we haven’t found, but we have been told time and again, I was brought up with this information, that we are going to run out of oil. We don’t have enough oil left on Earth. Now that is not entirely true. Let me tell you why. The idea that we’re going to run out of oil was brought up … was started in about 1950 and by 1950s standards, by the speed at which they were using oil in the 1950s and by the amount of oil that they knew existed on the earth, in the 1950s, that seemed very very true. That seemed like a huge probability. However, a few things have changed. Firstly, we found more oil. We found different ways of getting it. We can dig deeper down. We can go further out into the sea. We have found more oil. Secondly, we have found better ways of using it. We’re much more economical than we used to be. A lot of plastics are recycled. A lot of things made of oil are recycled. We are more economical at making electricity from the oil, so we don’t need as much oil to make the power. Most of our devices, most of the things we use, don’t use as much power as they used to. Look at a washing machine, for example. They are far more economical than they used to be. So, we don’t use as much power as we used to, so we’re not using the oil up as fast as they thought we would in the 1950s. So, even though the amount of oil on Earth is obviously limited, we’re not using it as fast as we used to. So, we probably won’t run out. Very controversial. I will never know that, of course. I won’t be here. Maybe my daughter or my daughter’s children will know that. But, I don’t know, but, I think, most likely, we won’t run out of oil.
Now, what are some of the problems with oil? Well one of them, of course, is pollution. About 80% of our oil goes to making power. How do you do that? Well, you burn the oil. When you burn … you burn the oil to heat the water to create the steam to turn the turbines to make the power, generate the power. Of course, when you burn oil what do you get? Well, oil is mostly carbon, of course, and hydrogen. So, when you burn oil you end up with carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and water. Of course, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are two of the greatest greenhouse gases, so, when you burn oil, you add to the greenhouse effect, you add to climate change, of course. Of course, we have oil spills as well. There are many other environmental problems with oil. But I suppose pollution is probably the greatest.
Which country uses the most oil do you think? Well, no surprises to hear it is America. America uses about 19.8 million barrels of oil a day, which is about 21% of the total world oil use. China comes next with about 11% and then we have India with 5%. India is slowly increasing. Of course, with their huge population. What is it? 1.2 billion people? They’re going to be using a staggering amount of oil and of course, China and India are developing. China is a second world country, India is a third world country, heading up to the second world. As they develop, they’re going to use even more electricity and they’re going to use even more oil. So, that is going to increase in the future. Then, number four is Japan. Japan’s population is declining. Things are becoming much more economical, so, probably, their oil usage will shrink. Hopefully. Of course, Japan does not have any natural oil. They have to import everything from other countries.
Now, oil is obviously a polluter. Using oil is obviously not good for the environment. So, what can we do? There are many other forms of environmentally friendly power, of course. You have wind power, you have solar power, wave power. There are many other ways of generating power. Why don’t we? Why don’t we use these? Well, many people say that they’re not economical. They’re not logical. They don’t actually work. Which is not true. I mean, of course they … of course they have been proven to work. Now, there is a lot of doubt in the social conscious. There is a lot of doubt in the world that oil actually causes climate change. A lot of people say that climate change is a conspiracy, it’s a governmental conspiracy to try and get our tax money, of course. Now, where does this doubt come from? Where do all these fears come from? Well, of course, they come from the oil companies. The oil companies have a staggering amount of money. Not just oil, oil and coal. A staggering amount of money, which they use to pay scientists and to pay representatives to put their word forward. And, of course, they cannot prove that climate change isn’t happening because it obviously is, so what do they do? They instill doubt. They instill this fear into the people. All you have to do is repeat the question, “Are you sure? Are you sure it’s climate change? But can you trust the government? Are you sure?” All you have to do is repeat that doubt a few times and it starts to take off. And once a few people believe it, they start to spread it. So, if you look into climate change, if you look at most of the scientists that have come forward to say that climate change is not actually real, is not actually happening, is not human caused, you can trace their finance, you can trace their funding back to the oil and the coal industries. Anyway, that’s another talk for another day.
So, that is oil. Will we run out? Probably not. Will we be able to change to other sources of power? I think we will. I think we can. What we need is a push from the people and it will start to happen. It already is happening, and it can keep increasing.
That was 10 minutes talking about oil. I hope you understood. Thank you. As always, if you look in the description below here, you can find a link which is for the transcript for this talk. You can find questions, multiple choice and essay type questions. You can try and answer the essay questions. You can write them. You can speak them. And also, I have sample answers in there as well, so you can have a look and see … compare your answers with my answers, of course. I also have the MP3, so you can download this talk and listen to it wherever you want. If you want to. Thank you. If you enjoyed this, please click “like”. Share it with your friends. Help your friends study English too. And if you subscribe, you’ll hear about these talks whenever I make them, which is hopefully every week. All right. Thank you for coming. I’ll talk to you next week. Goodbye.
Oil – Questions
- What does the “oleum” in petroleum mean?
A: Rock
B: Oil
C: Gas
D: Petrol
- How does a lot of sand and sediment make oil form?
A: By sucking the animal parts up into the sand.
B: Because sand contains a lot of oil.
C: By mixing in with the animals.
D: Through intense heat and pressure.
- Why does some oil rise to the surface naturally?
A: Because people drill very far down for it.
B: Because it is sucked towards the surface by gravity.
C: Because it is lighter than the earth around it.
D: Because the earth moves sometimes.
- What kind of oil was mostly used before modern oil was found?
A: Whale oil
B: Car oil
C: Lighting oil
D: Fish oil
- What is most oil used for these days?
A: Electricity
B: Gas
C: Cars
D: Plastic
- What have improvements in oil rigs enabled people to do?
A: Remove the oil from shale rocks.
B: Transfer oil to ships far more efficiently.
C: Float much farther out to sea.
D: Pump oil up from deeper under the sea.
- Which of these is NOT a reason why Steven thinks we won’t run out of oil?
A: We have new ways for finding the oil.
B: More oil is being created every day.
C: We use our oil far more efficiently.
D: We recycle a lot of things.
- How is oil used to make electricity?
A: It can be separated into carbon and electricity.
B: It is burned to heat water.
C: It is used to turn a turbine.
D: It can generate power.
- Why does India use more oil than it used to?
A: Because of their huge population.
B: Because they sell it to the USA.
C: Because they can get oil our of shale rocks.
D: Because India has a lot of natural oil.
- Why do many people in the world doubt that climate change is caused by people?
A: Because oil is a safe renewable fuel.
B: Because we cannot affect our planet.
C: Because most scientists don’t think people are responsible.
D: Because of doubt instilled by the oil industry.
- Which of these are NOT renewable energy resources?
A: Wind power
B: Solar power
C: Gas power
D: Wave power
- Do you think that countries should be allowed to hunt whales?
- Do you think we will ever be completely reliant on renewable energy?
- Many countries are very reliant on oil for their income. What will happen to them if we move to renewable energy?
- Can humankind solve the climate change problem?
Oil – Answers
- B 2. D 3. D 4. A 5. A 6. D 7. B 8. B 9. A 10. D 11. C
- Do you think that countries should be allowed to hunt whales?
This is a very difficult question because there is so much emotion attached to it. If we try to remove the emotion and think about it logically, we can say that some species of whales could be hunted, but that there really is little need for it.
Let’s begin by looking at why this is an emotional topic. It is generally assumed that whales are highly intelligent animals. There is a lot of evidence to demonstrate this. Whales display complex behavior, the ability to communicate, and care for each other and their young. Many people use these reasons to explain why whales should never be hunted. However, pigs also demonstrate all of these characteristics. Pigs are also demonstrably highly intelligent beings. Yet, we have no qualms about slaughtering them in their millions. It seems slightly hypocritical that we would spare whales but not pigs because they are intelligent.
So, if we agree that intelligence is not reason enough to spare whales, then we can say that there is nothing emotional to stop them being hunted. However, there is still a strong reason not to hunt them, and that is financial. Hunting whales is a costly business. Unlike pig farming, you have to outfit a hunting boat, you need a factory ship to process the whale, you need crew, you have to get to where the whales are and then you have to get them home again. This is a very expensive process. However, if you can sell the whale meat for far more than it costs to hunt it, it will be a profitable business, but, as it stands, the market for whale meat has plummeted. Countries that hunt whales have tons of frozen whale meat lying around. So, it does not make financial sent to hunt whales. Possibly, a hunt of limited proportions could be justified, but not mass hunting.
So, we can see that even though hunting whales is as logical as killing pigs, it does not make any financial sense.
- Do you think we will ever be completely free of oil generated power?
I think we will be completely free of oil generated power within 50 year, but I don’t think it will be a quick or painless process. It has become increasingly obvious to anybody who can look past the propaganda generated by the oil, gas and coal industries, that humans are worsening climate change. As the changes become more apparent and people become more educated, the solutions will become not just obvious but necessary. People will start to elect leaders that are “green” and more research money will flow into renewable energy. If they are smart, the oil, coal and gas industries will be onboard with this and a large part of the research will come from them. They seem to see it as oil vs renewable, but there is no reason why it must be so black and white. Oil companies can very easily be renewable energy producers as well. Renewable energy can be just as profitable as oil. Once they start to realize this, the changes will begin to snowball. We just need one oil company to make the first move.
- Many countries are very reliant on oil for their income. What will happen to them if we move to renewable energy?
The next few decades will see some changes across the world. They might not all seem good at first, but by the time they are over, the good will be obvious. One of those changes will be the move from an oil reliant country to a country with a different source of revenue.
It might be somewhat of a generalization, but the majority of countries that survive primarily on oil revenue are not democracies. The wealth of the oil resides in the hands of a few. As oil becomes less of a necessity, the price per barrel of oil will fall, as is already happening. The countries that rely heavily on oil money for the stability of their economy will start to suffer, as is also already happening. These countries will then probably enter a period of nationalism. It is very common for the government of a country undergoing hardships to try to focus the attention of their people outwards. However, as the suffering worsens, the people will probably turn on their governments. Hopefully, the new governments that replace the old will be more democratic and greener. They will remake their countries. It may take a while, but the new sources of wealth that they find will be more sustainable. It is a large coincidence, but many of the countries that rely on selling oil have huge untapped renewable energy resources: solar power in Saudi Arabia; wind, solar and thermal power in Russia.
- Can humankind solve the climate change problem?
I do believe that it is solvable, if all nations on Earth work together. Currently, with different nations having different agendas and oil companies sowing doubt, it is hard, but it is possible. There will be two parts to this solution. The first part will be all countries on Earth shifting to non-polluting, renewable energy sources. The second part will be the removal of the current high levels of CO2 from the atmosphere.
Firstly, all countries of the world can come together if the problem is severe enough. Right now, although the effects of climate change are obvious, they are easily ignored or denied. Once the seas rise to the point that hundreds of millions of people have become refugees, things will start to happen.
Secondly, I believe that humankind has the ability and the intelligence to solve any problem that it is faced with. There are already ideas for how to scrub the atmosphere of CO2. All it will take is a push from the people and a large investment of money. It will happen.
So, for these reasons, you can see why I think this is a solvable problem.