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53-790: Madagascar Oil SA is an oil company operating in Madagascar . It is the principal onshore oil company in Madagascar in terms of oil resources and land. Madagascar Oil's operational office is in Antananarivo , Madagascar and its administrative offices are in Singapore . Its Chairman is Indonesian national Al Njoo. Prior to this, the company was based in Houston , Texas and earlier in London , England. The company's flagship oil field

106-503: A critical concern for many nations. Oil accounts for a large percentage of the world's energy consumption , ranging from a low of 32% for Europe and Asia, to a high of 53% for the Middle East. Other geographic regions' consumption patterns are as follows: South and Central America (44%), Africa (41%), and North America (40%). The world consumes 36 billion barrels (5.8 km ) of oil per year, with developed nations being

159-548: A drilling/production oil-platform in 20 ft (6.1 m) of water some 18 miles off Vermilion Parish, Louisiana . Kerr-McGee Oil Industries, as operator for partners Phillips Petroleum ( ConocoPhillips ) and Stanolind Oil & Gas ( BP ), completed its historic Ship Shoal Block 32 well in November 1947, months before Superior actually drilled a discovery from their Vermilion platform farther offshore. In any case, that made Kerr-McGee's Gulf of Mexico well, Kermac No. 16,

212-515: A lighting and heating fuel, the demand for petroleum increased greatly, and by the early twentieth century had become the most valuable commodity traded on world markets. Imperial Russia produced 3,500 tons of oil in 1825 and doubled its output by mid-century. After oil drilling began in the region of present-day Azerbaijan in 1846, in Baku , the Russian Empire built two large pipelines:

265-557: A market share. For example: Midstream operations are sometimes classified within the downstream sector, but these operations compose a separate and discrete sector of the petroleum industry. Midstream operations and processes include the following: While some upstream companies carry out certain midstream operations, the midstream sector is dominated by a number of companies that specialize in these services. Midstream companies include: The oil and gas industry spends only 0.4% of its net sales on research & development (R&D) which

318-657: A number of natural mechanisms: Recovery factor during the primary recovery stage is typically 5-15%. When the underground pressure in the oil reservoir is sufficient to force the oil (along with some associated gas) to the surface, all that is necessary to capture oil is to place a complex arrangement of valves (the Christmas tree ) on the well head and further to connect the well to a pipeline network for storage and processing. Sometimes, during primary recovery, to increase extraction rates, pumps, such as beam pumps and electrical submersible pumps (ESPs), are used to bring

371-400: A well cannot be known with certainty until the well ceases production, petroleum engineers often determine an estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) based on decline rate projections years into the future. Various models, mathematical techniques, and approximations are used. Shale gas EUR is difficult to predict, and it is possible to choose recovery methods that tend to underestimate decline of

424-465: Is Tsimiroro in the Morondava Basin of western Madagascar. Madagascar Oil wholly owns its subsidiary, Madagascar Oil S.A. Madagascar Oil was founded in 2004 by Canadian engineer Sam Malin and Australian businessman Alan Bond . Its parent company was originally Madagascar Oil Limited (Mauritius). In March 2006, simultaneous with a US$ 60m fund raising to North American managed hedge funds,

477-434: Is carbon dioxide flooding . Tertiary recovery allows another 5% to 15% of the reservoir's oil to be recovered. In some California heavy oil fields, steam injection has doubled or even tripled the oil reserves and ultimate oil recovery. For example, see Midway-Sunset Oil Field , California's largest oilfield. Tertiary recovery begins when secondary oil recovery is not enough to continue adequate extraction, but only when

530-652: Is generally accepted that oil is formed mostly from the carbon rich remains of ancient plankton after exposure to heat and pressure in Earth 's crust over hundreds of millions of years. Over time, the decayed residue was covered by layers of mud and silt, sinking further down into Earth's crust and preserved there between hot and pressured layers, gradually transforming into oil reservoirs . Petroleum in an unrefined state has been utilized by humans for over 5000 years. Oil in general has been used since early human history to keep fires ablaze and in warfare . Its importance to

583-521: Is in comparison with a range of other industries the lowest share. Governments such as the United States government provide a heavy public subsidy to petroleum companies , with major tax breaks at various stages of oil exploration and extraction, including the costs of oil field leases and drilling equipment. In recent years, enhanced oil recovery techniques – most notably multi-stage drilling and hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") – have moved to

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636-597: Is often employed by means of aerobic degradation. More recently, other bioremediative methods have been explored such as phytoremediation and thermal remediation. The industry is the largest industrial source of emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a group of chemicals that contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone ( smog ). The combustion of fossil fuels produces greenhouse gases and other air pollutants as by-products. Pollutants include nitrogen oxides , sulphur dioxide , volatile organic compounds and heavy metals . Researchers have discovered that

689-481: Is the most common form of TEOR, and it is often done with a cogeneration plant. This type of cogeneration plant uses a gas turbine to generate electricity , and the waste heat is used to produce steam, which is then injected into the reservoir. This form of recovery is used extensively to increase oil extraction in the San Joaquin Valley , which yields a very heavy oil, yet accounts for ten percent of

742-430: Is usually divided into three major components: upstream , midstream , and downstream . Upstream regards exploration and extraction of crude oil , midstream encompasses transportation and storage of crude, and downstream concerns refining crude oil into various end products . Petroleum is vital to many industries, and is necessary for the maintenance of industrial civilization in its current configuration, making it

795-468: The oil industry , includes the global processes of exploration , extraction , refining , transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines ), and marketing of petroleum products . The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline (petrol). Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products , including pharmaceuticals , solvents , fertilizers , pesticides , synthetic fragrances , and plastics . The industry

848-582: The petrochemical industry can produce ground-level ozone pollution at higher amounts in winter than in summer. Greenhouse gases caused by burning fossil fuels drive climate change . In 1959, at a symposium organised by the American Petroleum Institute for the centennial of the American oil industry , the physicist Edward Teller warned of the danger of global climate change . Edward Teller explained that carbon dioxide "in

901-512: The world economy however, evolved slowly, with whale oil being used for lighting in the 19th century and wood and coal used for heating and cooking well into the 20th century. Even though the Industrial Revolution generated an increasing need for energy, this was initially met mainly by coal, and from other sources including whale oil. However, when it was discovered that kerosene could be extracted from crude oil and used as

954-590: The 1880s. In the early 1930s the Texas Company developed the first mobile steel barges for drilling in the brackish coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico . In 1937 Pure Oil Company (now part of Chevron Corporation ) and its partner Superior Oil Company (now part of ExxonMobil Corporation ) used a fixed platform to develop a field in 14 feet (4.3 m) of water, one mile (1.6 km) offshore of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana . In early 1947 Superior Oil erected

1007-625: The 833 km long pipeline to transport oil from the Caspian to the Black Sea port of Batum (Baku-Batum pipeline), completed in 1906, and the 162 km long pipeline to carry oil from Chechnya to the Caspian. The first drilled oil wells in Baku were built in 1871–1872 by Ivan Mirzoev , an Armenian businessman who is referred to as one of the 'founding fathers' of Baku's oil industry. At

1060-586: The East Indies oil-supply (especially via submarine campaigns ) considerably weakened Japan in the latter part of the war. After World War II ended in 1945, the countries of the Middle East took the lead in oil production from the United States. Important developments since World War II include deep-water drilling, the introduction of the drillship , and the growth of a global shipping network for petroleum – relying upon oil tankers and pipelines. In 1949

1113-779: The Middle East. The expansion of Imperial Japan to the south aimed largely at accessing the oil-fields of the Dutch East Indies. Germany, cut off from sea-borne oil supplies by Allied blockade , failed in Operation Edelweiss to secure the Caucasus oil-fields for the Axis military in 1942, while Romania deprived the Wehrmacht of access to Ploesti oilfields – the largest in Europe – from August 1944. Cutting off

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1166-740: The Tsimiroro and Bemolanga, the company holds three exploration blocks: Manambolo, Morondava and Manandaza. On Madagascar Oil's blocks, previous exploration examples include the Manambolo West #1 well, drilled in 1987 that flowed gas at 15.6 million cubic feet (440,000 m) per day on a drill stem test and abandoned as non-commercial partially due to a lack of infrastructure; and the Manandaza well drilled in 1991 that flowed 41° API light crude oil . Madagascar Oil's projects are governed by production sharing agreements signed with OMNIS ,

1219-420: The United States' oil extraction. Fire flooding (In-situ burning) is another form of TEOR, but instead of steam, some of the oil is burned to heat the surrounding oil. Occasionally, surfactants ( detergents ) are injected to alter the surface tension between the water and the oil in the reservoir, mobilizing oil which would otherwise remain in the reservoir as residual oil. Another method to reduce viscosity

1272-764: The advent of hydraulic fracturing and other horizontal drilling techniques, shale play has seen an enormous uptick in production. Areas of shale such as the Permian Basin and Eagle-Ford have become huge hotbeds of production for the largest oil corporations in the United States. The American Petroleum Institute divides the petroleum industry into five sectors: Oil companies used to be classified by sales as " supermajors " ( BP , Chevron , ExxonMobil , ConocoPhillips , Shell , Eni and TotalEnergies ), "majors", and "independents" or "jobbers". In recent years however, National Oil Companies (NOC, as opposed to IOC, International Oil Companies) have come to control

1325-611: The annual rate of occupational fatalities significantly decreased 36.3%; however, the number of work-related fatalities in the U.S. oil and gas extraction industry increased 27.6%, with a total of 1,189 deaths because the size of the workforce grew during this period. Two-thirds of all worker fatalities were attributed to transportation incidents and contact with objects or equipment. More than 50% of persons fatally injured were employed by companies that service wells. Hazard controls include land transportation safety policies and engineering controls such as automated technologies. In 2023,

1378-527: The area. Canada's first gusher (flowing well) erupted on January 16, 1862, when local oil-man John Shaw struck oil at 158 feet (48 m). For a week the oil gushed unchecked at levels reported as high as 3,000 barrels per day. The first modern oil-drilling in the United States began in West Virginia and Pennsylvania in the 1850s. Edwin Drake 's 1859 well near Titusville, Pennsylvania , typically considered

1431-628: The atmosphere causes a greenhouse effect " and that burning more fossil fuels could "melt the icecaps and submerge New York". The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , founded by the United Nations in 1988, concludes that human-sourced greenhouse gases are responsible for most of the observed temperature increase since the middle of the twentieth century. As a result of climate change concerns, many people have begun using other methods of energy such as solar and wind. This recent shift has some petroleum enthusiasts skeptical about

1484-491: The company. On 15 April 2015, the Madagascar government granted to the company a 25-year license on the oil production at the Tsimiroro block 3104. In February 2019, the new Madagascar president Andry Rajoelina cancelled an ongoing licensing round involving 44 blocks in the Morondava basin until further notice. Madagascar Oil focuses on the development, exploration and production of petroleum . In 2008, Madagascar Oil held

1537-523: The first ever well drilled with percussion tools to a depth of 21 meters for oil exploration. In 1878 Ludvig Nobel and his Branobel company "revolutionized oil transport" by commissioning the first oil tanker and launching it on the Caspian Sea . Samuel Kier established America's first oil refinery in Pittsburgh on Seventh avenue near Grant Street in 1853. Ignacy Łukasiewicz built one of

1590-555: The first modern oil-refineries near Jasło (then in the Austrian dependent Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria in Central European Galicia ), present-day Poland, in 1854–56. Galician refineries were initially small, as demand for refined fuel was limited. The refined products were used in artificial asphalt, machine oil and lubricants, in addition to Łukasiewicz's kerosene lamp . As kerosene lamps gained popularity,

1643-617: The first offshore oil-drilling at Oil Rocks (Neft Dashlari) in the Caspian Sea off Azerbaijan eventually resulted in a city built on pylons. In the 1960s and 1970s, multi-governmental organizations of oil–producing nations – OPEC and OAPEC – played a major role in setting petroleum prices and policy. Oil spills and their cleanup have become an issue of increasing political, environmental, and economic importance. New fields of hydrocarbon production developed in places such as Siberia, Sakhalin , Venezuela and North and West Africa. With

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1696-578: The first oil discovery drilled out of sight of land. Forty-four Gulf of Mexico exploratory wells discovered 11 oil and natural gas fields by the end of 1949. During World War II (1939–1945) control of oil supply from Romania, Baku, the Middle East and the Dutch East Indies played a huge role in the events of the war and the ultimate victory of the Allies . The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran (1941) secured Allied control of oil-production in

1749-631: The first true modern oil well , touched off a major boom. In the first quarter of the 20th century, the United States overtook Russia as the world's largest oil producer. By the 1920s, oil fields had been established in many countries including Canada, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine, the United States, Peru and Venezuela. The first successful oil tanker , the Zoroaster , was built in 1878 in Sweden, designed by Ludvig Nobel . It operated from Baku to Astrakhan . A number of new tanker designs developed in

1802-812: The forefront of the industry as this new technology plays a crucial and controversial role in new methods of oil extraction. Some petroleum industry operations have been responsible for water pollution through by-products of refining and oil spills . Though hydraulic fracturing has significantly increased natural gas extraction, there is some belief and evidence to support that consumable water has seen increased in methane contamination due to this gas extraction. Leaks from underground tanks and abandoned refineries may also contaminate groundwater in surrounding areas. Hydrocarbons that comprise refined petroleum are resistant to biodegradation and have been found to remain present in contaminated soils for years. To hasten this process, bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants

1855-545: The future of the industry. Extraction of petroleum Geologists and geophysicists use seismic surveys to search for geological structures that may form oil reservoirs. The "classic" method includes making an underground explosion nearby and observing the seismic response, which provides information about the geological structures underground. However, "passive" methods that extract information from naturally occurring seismic waves are also used. Other instruments such as gravimeters and magnetometers are also used in

1908-417: The largest consumers. The United States consumed 18% of the oil produced in 2015. The production, distribution, refining, and retailing of petroleum taken as a whole represents the world's largest industry in terms of dollar value. Petroleum is a naturally occurring liquid found in rock formations. It consists of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds. It

1961-495: The largest licensed onshore acreage in Madagascar. Madagascar Oil holds the large heavy oil fields of Tsimiroro and Bemolanga , which are the island's major onshore oil fields. The company operates the 100%-owned Tsimiroro heavy oil field, while Total S.A. , its farm-in partner, operates the 40%-owned Bemolanga bitumen field. Tsimiroro has 2P reserves of 614 million barrels and 3C resources of 1.6 billion barrels, in tar sands at depths between 100m and 200m. In addition to

2014-423: The natural reservoir drive with an artificial drive. Secondary recovery techniques increase the reservoir's pressure by water injection , gas reinjection and gas lift . Gas reinjection and lift each use associated gas, carbon dioxide or some other inert gas to reduce the density of the oil-gas mixture; improving its mobility. The typical recovery factor from water injection operations is about 30%, depending on

2067-442: The newly drilled well bore. Holes are then made in the base of the well to enable oil to pass into the bore. Finally, a collection of valves called a " Christmas tree " is fitted to the top; the valves regulate pressures and control flow. The drilling process comes under "upstream", one of the three main services in the oil industry, along with mid-stream and downstream. During the primary recovery stage , reservoir drive comes from

2120-433: The oil can still be extracted profitably . This depends on the cost of the extraction method and the current price of crude oil . When prices are high, previously unprofitable wells are brought back into use, and when they are low, extraction is curtailed. The use of microbial treatments is another tertiary recovery method. Special blends of the microbes are used to treat and break down the hydrocarbon chain in oil, making

2173-507: The oil easy to recover. It is also more economical versus other conventional methods. In some states such as Texas, there are tax incentives for using these microbes in what is called a secondary tertiary recovery. Very few companies supply these microbes. The amount of recoverable oil is determined by a number of factors: When the reservoir rocks are "tight", as in shale , oil generally cannot flow through, but when they are permeable, as in sandstone , oil flows freely. Although recovery of

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2226-426: The oil to the surface; these are known as artificial lifting mechanisms. Over the lifetime of a well, the pressure falls. After natural reservoir drive diminishes and there is insufficient underground pressure to force the oil to the surface, secondary recovery methods are applied. These rely on supplying external energy to the reservoir by injecting fluids to increase reservoir pressure, hence increasing or replacing

2279-674: The parent company was reorganised as Madagascar Oil Limited in Bermuda. In 2006, Madagascar Oil launched its first licensing round involving 44 offshore blocks in the Morondava Basin. In 2008, a joint venture agreement was executed with Total S.A. granting it operatorship and a 60% interest in the Bemolanga tar sands. In 2010, it raised £50 million in its IPO to finance a pilot project in the Tsimiroro Field. Madagascar Oil

2332-472: The properties of the oil and the characteristics of the reservoir rock. On average, the recovery factor after primary and secondary oil recovery operations is between 35 and 45%. Enhanced, or tertiary oil recovery methods, further increase mobility of the oil in order to increase extraction. Thermally enhanced oil recovery methods (TEOR) are tertiary recovery techniques that heat the oil, reducing its viscosity and making it easier to extract. Steam injection

2385-590: The refining industry grew in the area. The first commercial oil-well in Canada became operational in 1858 at Oil Springs, Ontario (then Canada West ). Businessman James Miller Williams dug several wells between 1855 and 1858 before discovering a rich reserve of oil four metres below ground. Williams extracted 1.5 million litres of crude oil by 1860, refining much of it into kerosene-lamp oil. Some historians challenge Canada's claim to North America's first oil field , arguing that Pennsylvania 's famous Drake Well

2438-680: The relevant Malagasy government agency, in 2004. These agreements provide the Government of Madagascar with a significant stake in future production. The company's controlling shareholder is the Singapore-based Benchmark Group. Other shareholders are Outrider Management LLC, SEP African Ventures Limited (formerly Persistency Capital LLC), and the John Paul DeJoria Family Trust. Oil company The petroleum industry , also known as

2491-558: The rights over the largest oil reserves; by this measure the top ten companies all are NOC. The following table shows the ten largest national oil companies ranked by reserves and by production in 2012. Most upstream work in the oil field or on an oil well is contracted out to drilling contractors and oil field service companies. Aside from the NOCs which dominate the Upstream sector, there are many international companies that have

2544-407: The same reservoir, to an economically viable extraction rate. Some wells ( secondary wells ) may pump water , steam , acids or various gas mixtures into the reservoir to raise or maintain the reservoir pressure and economical extraction The oil well is created by drilling a long hole into the earth with an oil rig . A steel pipe (casing) is placed in the hole, to provide structural integrity to

2597-468: The search for petroleum. Extracting crude oil normally starts with drilling wells into an underground reservoir. When an oil well has been tapped, a geologist (known on the rig as the "mudlogger") will note its presence. Historically in the United States, in some oil fields the oil rose naturally to the surface, but most of these fields have long since been used up, except in parts of Alaska . Often many wells (called multilateral wells ) are drilled into

2650-602: The turn of the 20th century, Imperial Russia's output of oil, almost entirely from the Apsheron Peninsula , accounted for half of the world's production and dominated international markets. Nearly 200 small refineries operated in the suburbs of Baku by 1884. As a side effect of these early developments, the Apsheron Peninsula emerged as the world's "oldest legacy of oil pollution and environmental negligence". In 1846 Baku (Bibi-Heybat settlement) featured

2703-574: The well beyond that which is reasonable. The oil and gas extraction workforce faces unique health and safety challenges and is recognized by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as a priority industry sector in the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) to identify and provide intervention strategies regarding occupational health and safety issues. During 2003–2013,

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2756-729: Was listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange from 2010 until 2016. In December 2010, the trade of company's share was suspended after the Malagasy government announcement that most of the company's oil licenses would be annulled. The dispute was solved and the trade at the AIM restarted in June 2011. The company delisted in 2016, as a condition of its lenders recapitalising

2809-411: Was the continent's first. But there is evidence to support Williams, not least of which is that the Drake well did not come into production until August 28, 1859. The controversial point might be that Williams found oil above bedrock while Edwin Drake 's well located oil within a bedrock reservoir . The discovery at Oil Springs touched off an oil boom which brought hundreds of speculators and workers to

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