While horizontal drilling enables producers to drill down and outward-thus reaching more oil or gas from a single well-hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking) is designed to extract oil or natural gas from unyielding rock, including shale and other formations. Production growth is due in large part to advancements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, technologies that have created a boom in U.S. On the production side, the United States has experienced a decade-long upswing. Continued strengthening of clean car and fuel economy standards remains critical for reducing oil consumption. consumption of petroleum products is forecast to decrease, at least through 2038, as fuel efficiency standards lead to cleaner-running vehicles. This is partly due to the volatile global market amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. ![]() Demand for oil plummeted during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has now risen to its highest point since 2019. economy tripling in size in the decades since. oil consumption in 2016 was 10 percent below the record high of 2005 and only 3 percent higher than during the 1973–74 embargo by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)-despite the U.S. energy needs, with the transportation sector consuming the most. Petroleum products supply about 35 percent of U.S. Once extracted, oil is transported to refineries via supertanker, train, truck, or pipeline to be transformed into usable fuels such as gasoline, propane, kerosene, and jet fuel-as well as products such as plastics and paint. It’s accessed by drilling, on land or at sea, or by strip mining in the case of tar sands oil and oil shale. Oil can be found in underground reservoirs in the cracks, crevices, and pores of sedimentary rock or in tar sands near the earth’s surface. Examples of Fossil Fuels OilĬrude oil, or petroleum (literally “rock oil” in Latin), is a liquid fossil fuel made up mostly of hydrocarbons (hydrogen and carbon compounds). ![]() ![]() Because of their origins, fossil fuels have a high carbon content. What Are Fossil Fuels?Ĭoal, crude oil, and natural gas are all considered fossil fuels because they were formed from the fossilized, buried remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago. Here’s a look at what fossil fuels are, what they cost us (beyond the wallet), and why it’s time to move toward a clean energy future. That’s beyond all the negative impacts from petroleum-based products such as plastics and chemicals. Using fossil fuels for energy has exacted an enormous toll on humanity and the environment-from air and water pollution to global warming. Even today, oil, coal, and gas serve about 80 percent of our energy needs.Īnd we’re paying the price. For more than a century, burning fossil fuels has generated most of the energy required to propel our cars, power our businesses, and keep the lights on in our homes.
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