Destroying the Earth for crude oil.

[Tigertown]

Someone tell me if this has been covered in a thread. If not here is the place.

Edit: Related thoughts and tangents are welcome.

Not in any regard to oil emissions or effect on the atmosphere and warming, is there other harm being done to the Earth by removing crude oil from the Earth's crust? I have thought about this most of my life, as many others have and if you Google the subject, you will find even more people have done so. Many believe the oil serves other purposes where it originates; Like a mass ballast or some have suggested it being an insulator or lubricant for the Tectonic Plates. Thoughts please?

[charles_oil]

I worked in the oil industry for 25 years+ mainly on the Drilling & Production side, the effect of removing oil may be very slight reduction in elevation (in the order of centimetres), often though this is offset by the introduction of injected water (used to push the oil though the porous rock), or indeed driven by expanding gas.   

I don't think the main oil producing areas or depths are where the principle tectonic plates are so any lubricating effect on faults is unlikely - remember the oil represents a small fraction within the pores of the rock - not a large puddle.

[Tigertown]

That really makes sense. Sometimes I have to remind myself how big the Earth really is and how thin the crust is in overall comparison.

P.S.  I have also heard of re-injecting wastewater into the Earth, usually at a different depth than where the oil is from. Basically, it's just a cheap way of getting rid of toxic waste water. Many blame Oklahoma's earthquakes on this process. I am sure it causes other problems as well, but will have to find the material again that I have read about it and comment later, as my memory needs refreshed.

[charles_oil]

Rarely "wastewater" which by its nature might be quite dirty (so would cause problems and probably not flow very well), but it could be a) produced water or b) (offshore in particular) treated sea water. 

Injection would be at a lower depth or further out as of course the oil is higher so pushing from below makes more sense (just as leaving the "gas cap" in place allows the gas to help push the more valuable oil out).

[Tigertown]

"Wastewater" was the term used in the article. It was saltwater mixed in with the oil when extracted. I don't know if that situation is unique to the Oklahoma region or what, but that area was the focus of this article. Oh yeah, and they do inject it at a lower depth to keep it away from the freshwater aquifers. Note: this is not the same process as fracking.

www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-oklahoma-rise-in-quakes-linked-to-man-made-causes/

[charles_oil]

Its all part of the general "enhanced oil recovery" EOR processes.

In order to improve extraction a range of different techniques and fluids - very field specific - are engineered to increase production recovery %.

These include waterflood, gas re-injection, CO2 injection, pumping, gas lifting, fracturing / reperforating etc.  Each has pros and cons for any oil or gas field based on availability, cost, safety, environment & of course the geology / chemistry of the rocks as well as the production history.

[Tigertown]

More earthquakes  in Oklahoma.
Article says,"Oklahoma has had thousands of earthquakes in recent years, with nearly all traced to the underground injection of wastewater left over from oil and gas production. Sunday's quake was centered one mile west of Cushing — and about 25 miles south of where a magnitude 4.3 quake forced a shutdown of several wells last week."

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/earthquake-causes-damage-central-oklahoma-n678811

[magnamentis]

we are not capable to destroy the planet but we are damaging it to the point of self-destruction, self decimation and/or self extinction, which ever of the terms one prefers.

want to know what i mean, google what happens to deer and other wildlife when they overpopulate their habitats. exactly the same is the fate of the animal that calls itself "human" and fell for the pride driven error that "humanity" is smart. matter of factly i start to believe that of all animals with a significant brain the "human" animal belongs to the dumbest because we are self-inflicting things that no other animal species would do.

[Tigertown]

Destroy doesn't necessarily mean to obliterate, but can mean to ruin something and make it no longer suitable for it's intended use. And yes, sometimes we humans are too smart for our own good.

[magnamentis]

Destroy doesn't necessarily mean to obliterate, but can mean to ruin something and make it no longer suitable for it's intended use. And yes, sometimes we humans are too smart for our own good.

of course my friend, i thought i was hinting at that, it's just that many people read this and not everyone including myself is a native english speaker and things can easily get lost in translation.

it was just a statement in reference to the thread title, all good, the meaning is well understood :-)
sorry if that came across differently :-) even though i think and write more english than german or spanish in the mean time, german will always be the base from wich and to which i translate, and the more important or complex a topic is/becomes, the more this is the case.

enjoy further

cheers

[Freegrass]

What an amazing story. Not sure what to think about this. It's terrible, but the people haven't got a choice.