1.1.3　Petroleum Resources

Text（课文）

The vast majority of fuels for transportation are liquid fuels originating from petroleum.Petroleum is a fossil fuel，resulting from the decomposition of living matters that were imprisoned millions of years ago（Ordovician，600-400 million years ago）in geologically stable layers.This process takes millions of years to accomplish.This is what makes the Earth's resources in fossil fuels finite.

Proved reserves are“those quantities that geological and engineering information indicates with reasonable certainty can be recovered in the future from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions.”Therefore，they do not constitute an indicator of the Earth's total reserves.The proved reserves，as they are given in the British Petroleum 2001 estimate，are given in billion tons in Table 1.1.The R/P ratio is the number of years that the proved reserves would last if the production were to continue at its current level.This ratio is also given in Table 1.1 for each region.

Table 1.1　Proved Petroleum Reserves in 2000

The oil extracted nowadays is the easily extractable oil that lies close to the surface，in regions where the climate does not pose major problems.It is believed that far more oil lies underneath the Earth's crust in regions such as Siberia，or the American and Canadian Arctic.In these regions，the climate and ecological concerns are major obstacles to extracting or prospecting for oil.The estimation of the total Earth's reserves is a difficult task for political and technical reasons.A 2000 estimation of the undiscovered oil resources by the US Geological Survey is given in Table 1.2.

Table 1.2　U.S.Geological Survey Estimate of Undiscovered Oil in 2000

Although the R/P ratio does not include future discoveries，it is significant.Indeed，it is based on proved reserves，which are easily accessible to this day.The amount of future oil discoveries is hypothetical，and the newly discovered oil will not be easily accessible.The R/P ratio is also based on the hypothesis that the production will remain constant.It is obvious，however，that consumption（and therefore production）is increasing yearly to keep up with the growth of developed and developing economies.Consumption is likely to increase in gigantic proportions with the rapid development of some largely populated countries，particularly in the Asia Pacific region.Figure 1.2 shows the trend in oil consumption over the last 20 years.Oil consumption is given in thousand barrels per day（one barrel is about 8 metric tons）.

Figure 1.2　Oil consumption per region

Despite the drop in oil consumption for Eastern Europe and the former USSR，the world trend is clearly increasing，as shown in Figure 1.3.The fastest growing region is Asia Pacific，where most of the world's population lives.An explosion in oil consumption is to be expected，with a proportional increase in pollutant emissions and CO2 emissions.

Figure 1.3 World oil consumption

New words and expressions（单词和短语）

1.New words（单词）

2.Expressions（短语）

Notes to the text（难点解析）

★1.Those quantities that geological and engineering information indicates with reasonable certainty can be recovered in the future from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions.经地质和工程信息可靠地预示的储藏量，它们是在现阶段经济和运行条件下，今后由已知的储油层可被开采的储藏量。

★2.Consumption is likely to increase in gigantic proportions with the rapid development of some largely populated countries，particularly in the Asia Pacific region.油消耗量随着某些人口大量聚居国家的迅速发展很可能呈现巨大的增长额，特别是在亚太地区。

Exercises（练习）

◆1.Translate the following passages（expressions）into Chinese（英译汉）

（1）CO2 emissions

（2）oil consumption

◆2.Translate the following passages（expressions）into English（汉译英）

（1）石油资源

（2）亚太地区

（3）石油是从地下采掘的矿物燃料，是活性物质分解的生成物。

◆3.Multiple choice questions（选择填空）

（1）Petroleum Resources are______.

A.limited

B.unlimited

C.renewable

D.permanent

（2）The fastest growing region of the global oil consumption is______.

A.North America Asia Pacific

B.Asia Pacific

C.Europe

D.South and Central America

◆4.Directions:Answer the following questions briefly according to the text

（1）Can you explain R/P Ratio？

（2）What makes the Earth's resources in fossil fuels finite？

Reading material（阅读材料）

The process is roughly the following:living matters（mostly plants）die and are slowly covered by sediments.Over time，these accumulating sediments form thick layers and transform to rock.The living matters are trapped in a closed space，where they encounter high pressures and temperatures and slowly transform into either HCs or coal，depending on their nature.