RECOVERY OF OIL
The oil has been under considerable pressure, as a result of the mass of the ground above it acting downward under the influence of gravity. When the integrity of the ground layer was intact, there was no outlet for this fluid pressure, and the entire field is in a state of stable equilibrium. However, once the ground is penetrated, there is an outlet and the equilibrium becomes unstable. The downward force of the ground is translated (through fluid mechanics, based on the virtual incompressibility of fluids) into an upward force on the small area of crude oil that is free to move upward.
The correlation of the downward pressure on the oil field and the upward pressure of the oil in the sands or shale is not perfect, as a result of the internal fluid forces, viscosity, and our ever-present friend the coefficient of friction. More often than not, the oil will not be able to rise as far as the ground surface merely under the pressure of the overburden. When this is the case, a process called enhanced oil recovery comes into play, where a second hole (or group of holes) is drilled down towards the oil field and used to inject water or steam. This increases the fluid pressure of the oil trapped in the strata. This pressure is translated into an expanding force wherever the oil is free to move out of its confines - ideally, upward through the first well.
Jack and Jill are catapulted upward through the well and into a waiting tank. This crude has been tested and is now being stored for shipment to the refinery.
They eventually reach the infamous cracking column at a Louisiana refinery, and through the cracking process are transformed into a molecule of gasoline. The gasoline is pumped into a storage yard, through forces applied by a pump that creates a linear fluid motion to direct fluid through a given route (a pipeline).