Natural gas and crude oil deposits are widely distributed throughout the world: North America, Mexico, the former Western Soviet Union, China, Venezuela, and the Middle East.

The goal of an engineer is to explore areas where the oil-gas mixture can be determine and then separate the mixture. Once an oil-gas deposit area is located, metal pipes are inserted into the ground of the deposit area to extract the oil-gas mixture. Pumps are used to pump up the mixture from the ground.

One problem that engineers face in recovering the mixture is the pressure drop that takes place as the mixture flows to the top surface. As the mixture flows up to the top of the ground, it runs into rocks and dirt that are in the way, providing resistance to the flow. An engineer has to make sure that the pumps used are able to provide enough pressure to move the oil-gas mixture.

You may think of this as being analogous to a water pistol. For example, water will not shoot out of the water gun if you inadequately pump the gun. So, if the pump to pump up the oil is not capable of putting enough pressure to allow the oil to flow to the top of the ground, there would be a problem.

Once the mixture is extracted from the ground, it is sent to a unit that separates the natural gas from the oil.