Investigation 4: Sources and Uses of Petroleum

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To learn more about where are the world's petroleum resources located, visit the following web sites:

Ranking of the World's Oil and Gas Provinces By Known Petroleum Volumes, USGS
"This report presents a division of the world into 937 geologic provinces and identifies those that the United States Geological Survey (USGS) plans to assess for petroleum resources. The selection of geologic provinces to be assessed was based on a ranking of known petroleum volumes in terms of barrels of oil equivalent (BOE)." It also includes informative tables and graphs of information (e.g., "Ranking of world provinces that contain oil and gas by known petroleum volumes," "Ranking of world provinces that contain oil and gas by known petroleum volumes," etc.).


To learn more about tar sands, visit the following web sites:

Synthetic Fuels, Oil Shales, and Tar Sands, Penn State
On page 3 of 10 of this article, a brief but informative explanations of tar sands is offered. You can learn where they are mostly found, typical methods of extraction, and other technologies that are being used.

Canada Is Unlocking Petroleum From Sand, New York Times
Learn how Alberta's oil sands may be the continent's leading oil producing area north of the Gulf of Mexico.

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AGI/It's About Time
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AGI's professional development programs for teachers are supported by generous contributions from corporate contributors of the American Geosciences Institute Foundation and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Foundation.