6 ms·

How many oil wells/barrels/square kilometers are currently dedicated to producing the world's jet fuel needs?

dsmmcken 4y ago
Wow, the US has just under a million operating U.S. oil and natural gas wells? That number surprised me, I don't know what I expected but I wouldn't have guessed that many. https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/wells/pdf/full_report.pdf https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/wells/pdf/full_report.pdf
- mrep 4y ago
  Well, we are the largest producer of oil in the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_produ...
- balderdash 4y ago
  Couple of interesting to things to note: Oil wells have super long useful lives (50+ years) but The majority only produce <15bbl/day due to decline curves (especially pronounced gor. The footprint of a well pad is pretty small one they’re in production ~<1/4 - 1/2 /acre. Many modern well pads can have multiple wells (4/6/12) due to directional drilling, further increasing well count.
zachrose 4y ago
About the same amount of land. In North America alone, 30,000 square kilometers for all oil and gas[0]. For a rough approximation, the US produced 14% of oil in the world in 2021[1] and this guy on Quora[2] says that 12% of the world's oil and gas goes into aviation fuel. [0] https://www.science.org/content/article/thirty-thousand-square-kilometers-land-lost-oil-and-gas-development https://www.science.org/content/article/thirty-thousand-squa... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_produ... [2] https://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-the-world-s-crude-oil-is-used-for-gasoline-diesel-and-jet-fuel https://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-the-world-s-crude-o...
- leaflets2 4y ago
  Already pipelines running from those areas :-) maybe in the future can transport solar jet fuel instead?
- Armisael16 4y ago
  That’s all oil and gas activity; jet fuel accounts for only a very small fraction of that.

Wow, the US has just under a million operating U.S. oil and natural gas wells? That number surprised me, I don't know what I expected but I wouldn't have guessed that many. https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/wells/pdf/full_report.pdf https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/wells/pdf/full_report.pdf

mrep 4y ago
Well, we are the largest producer of oil in the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_produ...
balderdash 4y ago
Couple of interesting to things to note: Oil wells have super long useful lives (50+ years) but The majority only produce <15bbl/day due to decline curves (especially pronounced gor. The footprint of a well pad is pretty small one they’re in production ~<1/4 - 1/2 /acre. Many modern well pads can have multiple wells (4/6/12) due to directional drilling, further increasing well count.

zachrose 4y ago

About the same amount of land. In North America alone, 30,000 square kilometers for all oil and gas[0]. For a rough approximation, the US produced 14% of oil in the world in 2021[1] and this guy on Quora[2] says that 12% of the world's oil and gas goes into aviation fuel. [0] https://www.science.org/content/article/thirty-thousand-square-kilometers-land-lost-oil-and-gas-development https://www.science.org/content/article/thirty-thousand-squa... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_produ... [2] https://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-the-world-s-crude-oil-is-used-for-gasoline-diesel-and-jet-fuel https://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-the-world-s-crude-o...

leaflets2 4y ago
Already pipelines running from those areas :-) maybe in the future can transport solar jet fuel instead?
Armisael16 4y ago
That’s all oil and gas activity; jet fuel accounts for only a very small fraction of that.