Oil industry

Background

The oil industry plays a vital role in global energy production. Oil is typically found through exploration and drilling processes. Geologists and geophysicists analyze rock formations and use seismic surveys to identify potential oil reservoirs. Once a potential site is identified, drilling rigs are used to extract oil from underground reservoirs.

After extraction, the oil undergoes a refining process. Refineries separate the oil into various components based on their molecular weights and boiling points. These components, such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and heating oil, are then further processed to meet specific quality and regulatory standards.

Transporting and storing oil require infrastructure such as pipelines, tankers, and storage tanks. Pipelines are commonly used for long-distance transportation, while tankers transport oil across oceans. Storage tanks are used to hold crude oil or refined products temporarily.

Oil serves as a feedstock for numerous products, including fuels, lubricants, chemicals, and plastics. It is also used in the manufacturing of asphalt for road construction and as a source of heat in industrial processes. Additionally, oil by-products are utilized in the production of fertilizers, synthetic fibers, and pharmaceuticals, among other applications.

Gameplay

Oil is a resource in Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic and plays an essential role in the game. Oil can be exported as a raw resource, but can also be processed into other resources in the player's republic. The player must first find the raw resource on the map and then start building the infrastructure to extract the oil from the underground well and transport the crude oil. Depending on the game settings, the player may need to do some research before finding the resource or researching how to process it. Crude oil can be converted into other resources in a special installation; the newly created resources can be used as a basis for other products or be exported.

General

Crude oil can be converted to fuel, Bitumen and can be used as a base product for Chemicals and Plastics. With these new resources, Electricity can be generated by burning fuel, and vehicles run on fuel, depending on the game setting Energy management. Bitumen can be used in an Asphalt plant to make Asphalt. To produce chemicals and/or plastics other resources are needed besides oil.

When players have found an oil source, they need to place a Pumpjack on the source and provide electricity to the pumpjack. The next step is to build a pipeline through which the crude oil can be transported. Pumping stations will have to be placed to transport crude oil because pipelines have a length restriction. The game provides two types of pumping station: one to collect three different pipe connections into one, and the other way round, to split one pipe into three separate pipe connections. To transport oil by road, rail or water, the game offers loading and unloading stations for each mode of transport.

To turn crude oil into other resources, crude oil needs to be processed in a Refinery. The player needs to place the refinery on the map, provide it with electricity and workers, and take care of delivering crude oil. In return the refinery produces fuel and bitumen. Crude oil, fuel and bitumen are liquids and can be stored in Oil/fuel storages. The player needs to be aware that only one kind of liquid can be stored in an oil/fuel storage, so mixing of liquids is not possible.

How to find oil?

Minimap showing oil sources.

Pumpjack showing oil source.

When the player has researches enabled in the game settings, the player first needs to research Faculty of Geology and Geological map from the Technical university. After finishing research on these projects/technologies, the raw resources will be displayed on the minimap.

When the player opens the minimap and selects the View resources: oil icon, all possible places where oil can be pumped up are displayed as red areas. The player can now choose a location on the minimap and click it; the view on the screen will move to the selected point. The player must now select the Pumpjack in the building menu: Industry -> Fossil Fuels. The cursor now changes to a pumpjack and an area around the pumpjack contains many colored dots in a circle. The colours of the dots have a meaning:

• Red, no oil present
• Orange, medium amount of oil present
• Green, plentiful of oil present

When hovering over a location with a potential oil source, the info window at the cursor displays the quality of that source as a percentage. The higher the percentage, the higher the efficiency of the pumpjack pumping up oil. The player should keep in account that placing multiple pumpjacks together, the percentage of each source is affected. Where the circle of dots overlap other circles from pumpjacks, the percentage will drop and therefore the efficiency of the pumpjacks decrease e.g. the closer the pumpjacks to each other, the lower the percentages.

Notes

• Pipe length restriction is about 275m.
• Placing pumpjacks close to each other will reduce the efficiency of the nearby pumpjacks.

Structures related to the oil industry

Retrieval and Processing

Pumpjack	Oil Refinery	Asphalt Plant
Chemical Plant	Chemical Plant	Plastics Factory

Storage/Export for Liquids

Oil/Fuel Storage	Foreign pipeline connection

Loading/Unloading Stations

Oil/fuel loading & unloading Road	Oil/fuel loading & unloading Road	Pumping harbor Water
Oil/fuel loading & unloading Rail	Oil/fuel loading & unloading Rail	Oil/fuel loading & unloading Rail

Pipes

Name	Cost	Notes
Pipe connection	Workdays, Steel, Mechanical components, Usage depends on length.
Underground pipe connection	Workdays, Concrete, Gravel, Steel, Mechanical components, Boards Usage depends on length.

Pumping stations

Name	Cost	Energy	Wattage	Structure		Notes
Pipe pumping station	373 Workdays, 7.7t Concrete, 5.9t Gravel, 4.7t Asphalt, 10t Steel, 2.1t Mechanical components	9.0 MWh	149 kW	Access	1x road access 1x pipe connection(import) 3x pipe connection(export)
				L/U	None
Pipe pumping station	373 Workdays, 7.7t Concrete, 5.9t Gravel, 4.7t Asphalt, 10t Steel, 2.1t Mechanical components	9.0 MWh	149 kW	Access	1x road access 3x pipe connection(import) 1x pipe connection(export)
				L/U	None
Underground pumping station	553 Workdays, 17t Concrete, 13t Gravel, 10t Asphalt, 12t Steel, 2.6t Mechanical components	9.0 MWh	149 kW	Access	1x road access 1x pipe connection(import) 3x pipe connection(export)
				L/U	None
Underground pumping station	553 Workdays, 17t Concrete, 13t Gravel, 10t Asphalt, 12t Steel, 2.6t Mechanical components	9.0 MWh	149 kW	Access	1x road access 3x pipe connection(import) 1x pipe connection(export)
				L/U	None