Crude oil is unrefined petrolium; or petrolium that has not yet been refined. Crude oil is composed of different Hydrocarbons. Often times they are composed of Light Distillates, Middle distillates, and natural residue.
Crude oil is separated using different physical properties such as melting point, and boiling point. Since the different components of crude oil have different melting points, when crude oil is heated at certain temperatures, the different components will boil out, thus separating them.
Based on the size of Hydrocarbons, the properties vary. Larger Hydrocarbons have higher boiling and melting points, because their larger size makes them more difficult to break apart. Methane will have a much lower boiling point than a Hydrocarbon that has 30 or more carbons.
Locating and drilling oil is done everyday in the U.S. and around the world. The process has become more environmentally friendly over the years. Before modern conservation theories, oil companies would use dynamite and other explosives to locate oil to begin drilling. Currently there are special boats that release shock waves that locates compacted sections underground where oil could be located. The oil companies will then use high-pressured drills to cut through bedrock, and large, industrial pumps to extract the oil from the earth. Of course these drills are equipped with safety valves and emergency blowout prevention mechanisms to avoid another potential catastrophe. The drills that are used spin outward to release any trapped gas up and out of the dig site, to avoid pressure build up, and possible explosion.
In the last few decades, oil companies have been attempting to make improvement on their drilling technologies for controversial reasons. Since the oil drilling proc3ess was not the cleanest process, nor was it entirely safe, the oil companies make efforts to create new support systems for their drills, safer drills that will cause less damage to the earth, and most importantly, avoid distaster.
