Fuel’s Incredible Journey

The full version of this article was published in Yachting Matters Magazine.

The fuel you pump for the journey ahead has already been on quite a journey of its own. Fuel is organic and has evolved from prehistoric plants and animals as they have been slowly compressed far beneath the surface of the earth over millions of years. The first oil well was drilled in Western Pennsylvania by Edwin Drake in 1859, was 69 feet deep and produced only 15 barrels a day. The area quickly boomed, as did the uses found for this black sticky liquid, and our modern oil industry was born.

To extract oil we need to access the subterranean spaces where it has accumulated over millions of years in reservoirs of sandstone or salt that have become sandwiched between layers of rock. Modern seismic techniques are used to locate these underground areas, which can vary in capacity from just a few to trillions of barrels. When a modern oil rig is used to drill into these reservoirs, the drill head can be controlled on the ground, enabling horizontal drilling at the bottom of the shaft, where underground pressure forces the oil to the surface. Here, a set of valves directs the oil on the next step of its journey: transport through a pipeline network, or by sea, for refining and storage.

Exploration techniques have evolved significantly in recent years. Just 20 or 30 years ago oil companies could only drill in shallow waters but now they are drilling deeper than ever before. According to Guinness World Records, “the Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible drilling rig, whilst operating in the Tiber oil field in the Gulf of Mexico (USA, 2010) achieved a drilling vertical depth of 10,062 m. This was accomplished working in water which was 1,259 m deep”.

After the crude has been extracted from the ground it is the turn of the oil refinery to separate the hydrocarbons and turn them into the petroleum products used by different industry sectors: fuels, lubricants, plastic and so on. Crude oil varies from in colour and composition, from a pale yellow low viscosity liquid to a heavy black treacle-like consistency. The different boiling points of the hydrocarbons allow them to be separated – or distilled – and then cooled into the various products. For example, diesel fuel has a higher boiling point than kerosene, which has a higher boiling point than petrol, and so on (diesel is the preferred fuel for yachts because it is more economical, less flammable and produces fewer greenhouse gases than petrol). Refining processes have improved over the years and now it is possible to produce 21 gallons of gasoline from a 42 gallon barrel of crude, compared to the early days when a barrel yielded only 11 gallons.

So spare a thought for the fuel you pump for the journey ahead: over millions of years and thousands of miles and through complex refining processes, it has been on quite an incredible journey itself.

Back to news