BREVE RESEA HISTORICA DEL PETROLEO.

Los seres humanos conocen los depsitos superficiales de petrleo crudo desde hace miles de aos. Durante mucho tiempo se emplearon para fines limitados, como la impermeabilizacin de barcos o la fabricacin de antorchas. En la poca del renacimiento, el petrleo de algunos depsitos superficiales se destilaba para obtener lubricantes y productos medicinales, pero la autntica explotacin del petrleo no comenz hasta el siglo XIX. Para entonces, la Revolucin Industrial haba desencadenado una bsqueda de nuevos combustibles y se hacan necesario encontrar un aceite bueno y barato para las lmparas. El aceite de ballena slo se lo podan permitir los ricos, las velas de sebo tenan un olor desagradable y el gas del alumbrado slo llegaba a los edificios de construccin reciente situados en zonas metropolitanas. La bsqueda de un combustible mejor para las lmparas llev a una gran demanda de aceite de piedra o petrleo, en los hogares, y a mediados del siglo XIX varios cientficos desarrollaron procesos para utilizar el petroleo en el sector comercial. Por ejemplo, el ingls James Young y otros comenzaron a fabricar diversos productos a partir del petrleo, aunque despus Young centr sus actividades en la destilacin de carbn. En 1852, el fsico y gelogo canadiense Abraham Gessner obtuvo una patente para producir a partir de petrleo crudo un combustible para lmparas relativamente limpio y barato, el queroseno. Tres aos ms tarde, el qumico estadounidense Benjamin Silliman public un informe que indicaba la amplia gama de productos tiles que se podan obtener mediante la destilacin del petrleo. Este descubrimiento promovio la bsqueda de mayores suministros de petrleo. la gente saba que en los pozos perforados para obtener agua o sal, ocasionalmente se obtenia petrleo, fue por eso que la gente comenz a pensar que tambien podian hacer perforacion para obtener petroleo. Los primeros pozos de este tipo se perforaron en Alemania entre 1857 y 1859, pero el acontecimiento que obtuvo fama mundial fue la perforacin de un pozo petrolfero cerca de Oil Creek, en Pennsylvania (Estados Unidos), la cual fue llevada a cabo por Edwin L. Drake, el Coronel, en 1859. Drake fue contratado por el industrial estadounidense George H. Bissell que tambin proporcion a Sillimar muestras de rocas petrolferas para su informe. Drake perfor en busca del supuesto depsito matriz, del que parece ser surgan las filtraciones de petrleo de Pennsylvania occidental. El depsito encontrado por Drake era poco profundo (21,2 m) y el petrleo era de tipo parafnico, muy fluido y fcil de destilar. El xito de Drake marc el comienzo del rpido crecimiento de la moderna industria petrolera. La comunidad cientfica no tard en prestar atencin al petrleo, y se desarrollaron hiptesis coherentes para explicar su formacin, su

movimiento ascendente y su confinamiento en depsitos. Con la invencin del automvil y las necesidades energticas surgidas en la I Guerra Mundial, la industria del petrleo se convirti en uno de los cimientos de la sociedad industrial. En Colombia, El petrleo y el oro son los principales productos minerales. Se extraen considerables cantidades de otros minerales, como plata, esmeraldas, platino, cobre, nquel, gas natural y carbn. Una de las minas de carbn ms destacadas es la del Cerrejn, en La Guajira. La industria petrolera est bajo el control de una compaa nacional y de varias concesiones a capitales extranjeros. La produccin de petrleo crudo se concentra en el valle del ro Magdalena, aproximadamente a 645 km del mar Caribe, y en la regin situada entre la cordillera Oriental y Venezuela; la produccin anual es de 197.502.730 de barriles. En Colombia existen varias refineras, entre las mas importamtes se ecuentran la de Barrancabermeja, adems de las ubicadas en el golfo de Morrosquillo (Coveas) y en Cartagena.

REVIEWING THE HISTORY OF THE PETROLEUM Human beings know the superficial deposits of crude oil for thousands of years. For a long time they used them for limited intentions, like the waterproofing of ships or the manufacturing of torches. In the epoch of renaissance, the oil of some superficial deposits was distilled to obtain lubricants and medicinal products, but the authentic exploitation of oil did not begin to the XIXth century. By that time, the Industrial Revolution had triggered a search of new fuels, and it was necessary to find a good and cheap oil for the lamps, because only the rich ones could buy the whale oil, the grease candles had a disagreeable odor and the illumination's gas only got to the buildings of recent construction placed at metropolitan zones. The searching of a better fuel for the lamps produced a repeat demand of "oil of stone" or petroleum, at the homes, around the middle of the XIXth century, several scientists developed processes to use the petroleum in the commercial sector. For example, the English man James Young and other ones began to manufacture various products using petroleum, although after Young centered his activities in the distillation of coal. In 1852, the physical and geologist Canadian Abraham Gessner obtained a patent to produce from crude oil a fuel for lamps relatively clean and cheap, called "kerosene". Three years later, the North American chemical Benjamin Silliman published a report that indicated an ample range of useful products that could be obtained by the distillation of petroleum. This discovery promoted the search of bigger supplies of petroleum, people knew that occasionally, in the perforations to obtain water or salt, they got petroleum. That was why people thought that they could make perforations to get petroleum too, the first wells were perforated in Germany between 1857 and 1859, but the event that obtained worldwide fame was the perforation of an oil well near to Oil Creek, in Pennsylvania ( United States ), which was made by Edwin L. Drake, the Colonel, in 1859. Drake, was hired for the North American industrialist George H. Bissell who also gave samples of oil-bearing rocks for Sillimans report. drake perforated in search of a supposed "womb deposit", that seems to be the origen of the occidental Pennsylvania's filtrations. The deposit found by Drake was not so deep ( 21.2 m ) and the petroleum was a kind of "parafnic", very flowed and easy to distill. Drake's success marked the beginning of the fast growth of the modern petroleum industry. The scientific community took no time to pay attention to the petroleum,

and they developed coherent hypothesis to explain their formation, their ascending motion and their confinement in deposits. With the invention of the automobile and the energetic needs happened in the I World War, petroleum industry became one of the foundations of the industrial society. In Colombia, petroleum and gold are the main mineral products. They extract considerable quantities of other minerals, like silver, emeralds, platinum, copper, nickel, natural gas and coal. One of the coalpits more highlighted is the one placed in "Cerrejon", in "La Guajira". The petroleum industry in Colombia is under the control of a domestic company and of several concessions to foreign capitals. The production of crude petroleum focuses on the Magdalena river's valley, approximately to 645 kilometers of the Caribbean Sea, and at the region placed between the Oriental mountains and Venezuela; The annual production belongs to 197,502,730 of barrels. In Colombia we have several refineries, among the most important we can find the one placed in Barrancabermeja, besides the one at Morrosquillo's gulf ( Coveas ) and Cartagena.