Lecture 4: Fossil Fuels

Question 1

Fossil Fuels

Answer 1

CONVENTIONALS
- Coal
- Natural Gas
- Liquid Petroleum (Crude oil)
UNCONVENTIONALS
- Coal to liquids
- Petroleum (tight oils) from sands, shales or heavy oil
- Natural gas from shales (tight gas), coalbed methane, and gas-to-liquids

Question 2

Coal measure for trading

Answer 2

Ton (2,000 US pounds)

Typical energy density - 20 MMBtu/ton (10,000 Btu/lb)

Question 3

Natural gas measure for trading

Answer 3

Cubic feet (scf) or thousand cubic feet (kcf)
Typical energy density 1 MMBtu per mcf

Question 4

Petroleum gas measure for trading

Answer 4

1 Blue Barrel (BBL) = 42 U.S Gallons

Typical energy density = 5.8 MMBtu per barrel

Question 5

Coal Use

Answer 5

Coal Primarily used for Electric Power

984 tons produced- 925 consumed - 858 electric power

Question 6

Lignite Coal

Answer 6

25-35% carbon
Youngest coal
Brown coal
High moisture content
Mainly burned at power plants to generate electricity

Question 7

Subbituminous

Answer 7

35-45% carbon
100 million yrs old
higher heating value than lignite
Mostly for electricity

Question 8

Bituminous coal

Answer 8

45-86% carbon
Most abundant in US (50%)
Used for electricity as a raw material for steel and iron industries

Question 9

Anthracite coal

Answer 9

86-97% carbon (highest rank)

Lower heating value than bituminous coal

Question 10

US largest coal reserves

Answer 10

267.6 billion short tons.

Question 11

Natural gas production

Answer 11

Natural gas wells: 13.1 tcf
Crude oil wells: 5.08 tcf
Shale gas wells 10.52 tcf

Question 12

Natural gas marketed production/ Dry gas production

Answer 12

25.62 tcf/24.28 tcf

Question 13

Natural gas consumption tcf

Answer 13

Total: 26
Residential: 4.94
Commercial: 3.29
Industrial: 8.88
Transportation: .78
Electric power: 8.15

Question 14

Associated Gas

Answer 14

co-located with oil reserves

Question 15

Non-associated gas

Answer 15

reserves are independent from oil

Question 16

Shale gas

Answer 16

Trapped in the cracks/pores of shale

Question 17

Renewable natural gas

Answer 17

from decomposing organic matter

–Biogas, biomethane

Question 18

Composition of Natural Gas

Answer 18

Methane 70-90%
Ethane: 5-15%
Propane and Butane

Question 19

Wet and Dry Gas

Answer 19

–Wet gas has higher fractions of liquids such as ethane, butane and propane.
–Dry gas has higher fractions of methane.

Question 20

Dirty and Clean Gas

Answer 20

–Dirty gas has high fractions of CO2 (also “acid” gas)

Question 21

Sweet and Sour Gas

Answer 21

–Sour gas has high concentrations of sulfur

–Sweet gas has low concentrations of sulfur

Question 22

U.S Petroleum Production (Million Barrels per Day)

Answer 22

Crude oil production: 7.45
Crude oil imports: 7.72
Crude oil supply: 15.17
Net Production: 19.04

Question 23

Petroleum consumption

Answer 23

Industrial: 4.85
Transportation: 13.19

Question 24

Typical output of U.S barrel

Answer 24

Gasoline: 20 gallons
Diesel and heating: 10 gallons
Jet fuel: 4
LPG & Heavy Fuel Oil: 4
Other products: 6