翻譯：THE OPEC oil cartel is about to turn 40, and the mood in the run-up to the grand heads-of-state party in Venezuela in less than three weeks time is jubilant. Not quite two years ago,oil was $10 a barrel and the cartel was on the brink of collapse. Now the oil price is well above $30 a barrel, and it shows little sign of coming down.

翻譯：It has been suggested that an effective oil source rock generates 10-40 bbl or oil per acre ft (0.0013-0.0052 cc/cc) for each one per cent of organic carbon. This is approximately 500-2000 ppm by weight.

翻譯：Meanahile ,steel pipes that would carry the oil were being developed . These were the first oil pipelines which take the advantage of the fact the oil is a liqnid. The ideas of a pipeline were not new , water has been transported through pipes for handreds of year ,The oil pipeline were not accepted without a struggle, hower.

翻譯：Practically every rig uses internal-combustion engines as its prime power source, or its prime mover.

翻譯：The fluids of a petroleum reservoir are generally gas, oil, and water in varying proportions. Each phase can differ widely in composition and properties. Gas and oil, either as separate fluids or in mixtures, change their state or phase as reservoir pressure changes.

翻譯：The application of physics to the study of rocks (geophysics)is very important in petroleum geology. In its broadest application geophysics makes a major contribution to understanding the earths crust and, especially through the application of modern plate tectonic(板塊構(gòu)造)theory, the genesis and petroleum potential of sedimentary basins. More specially, physical concepts are required to understand folds（褶皺）, faults（斷層）, and diapers（底辟）, and hence their roles in petroleum entrapment.

翻譯：A third means of assessing the maturity of rocks is by the pyrolysis of a small amount of the source rock. The temperature is raised rapidly and the material vaporized or formed by thermal breakdown of the kerogen is passed through a detector which records, on a temperature base, peaks representing these two bursts of volatile material. To a first approximation the peak at the lower temperature represents oil already generated; the peak at the higher temperature indicates oil capable of being generated at adequate maturity.

翻譯：A porous medium has a permeability of one darcy when a single phase fluid of one centipoise viscosity that completely fills the voids of the medium, will flow through it under conditions of viscous flow at a rate of one cubic centimeter per second per square centimeter cross sectional area under a pressure or equivalent hydraulic gradient of one atmosphere per centimeter.

翻譯：A reservoir trap is a combination of physical conditions that will cause hydrocarbon liquids and/or gases and water to accumulate in porous and permeable rock and prevent them from escaping either laterally or vertically because of differences in specific gravity, pressure, fluid/gas characteristics, and/or lithology. It has the capability of collection, holding, and yielding hydrocarbon fluids and water.

翻譯：A major oil company usually initiates the sequence of events that leads to the drilling of oil and gas wells in foreign fields, but independent oil operators pay for most of the wells in the United States. In fact, about 80% of all wells drilled in the U.S. today are financed by independents.