Exploration for Petroleum and Natural Gas in the Nittany Valley

Learning Objectives

To understand the techniques that petroleum geologists might use to locate wells when exploring to find hydrocarbons.

To acquaint students with correlating geological formations between well logs.

Standards Addressed

Within standard area 3.3.A Earth Structure, Processes and Cycles, this activity is appropriate for grade bands 9-12 as part of “Earth Features and the Processes that Change It” and “Earth’s Resources / Materials”. It is also appropriate for multiple Unifying Themes across the same grade band. The activity also addresses mathematical concepts of graphing. 

Supplies/Materials/Articles Needed

Maps and figures are provided, but students will need graph paper, pencil, ruler and calculator. 

Preparation Time Needed

There is no substantial preparation needed to use this activity in class. The teacher will need to print out in advance any images that the students would view in hard copy. As with any activity, we strongly recommend that the teacher work through the exercise in advance (and contact the author if you have questions). 

Class Time Required

This activity can be accomplished in two class periods, with the graphing assigned for homework. 

Activity Description

This exercise was developed as a collaborative effort by the faculty in the Department of Geoscience.

The major source of power for industrial use, the home, and transportation comes from burning fossil fuels including petroleum, natural gas and coal.  To a lesser extent, wood and peat are also burned as a source of power but these two sources are less commonly used and neither accounts for a major fraction of the fuel used world wide.

Fossil fuels evolve at depth in the Earth from organic matter, both plants and animals.  Much of the organic matter produced on the surface of the Earth or within the oceans is oxidized during weathering and decay and not preserved during burial.  Preservation of organic matter for the production of fossil fuels after burial requires an environment where oxygen is restricted or not present.  Such anoxic environments are found in deep basins where sea-water circulation is restricted or in swamps where burial is so rapid that bacteria have no time to break down organic matter.  All fossil fuels are generated when preserved organic matter is subjected to the heat and pressure of deep burial.  Chemical reactions under heat and pressure can produce fossil fuel in one of three forms: solid (coal), liquid (petroleum) or gas (natural gas). 

Pennsylvania was blessed with large quantities of all three fossil fuels.  Coal was produced in bulk before the Civil Was for home heating and industrial energy for such purposes as making steel.  The first oil well was drilled in 1859 in Titusville and, later in the 19th century, Pennsylvania became the largest producer of petroleum.  After the turn of the century, natural gas also became a major source for industrial and home energy.  The purpose of this exercise is to become familiar with the location of petroleum and natural gas in the subsurface of Pennsylvania.