Oil Is Not Decayed Fossils - true or false?

Garga · Coal Joined: May 26, 2008 Posts: 2

http://newsbyus.com/index.php/article/524

killJOY · Fission Joined: Feb 21, 2005 Posts: 2509 Location: ^NNE^

Your headline is technically true: oil is not "decayed fossils."

It's algae transformed into hydrocarbons.

Schadenfreude · Intermediate Crude Joined: Jan 16, 2008 Posts: 606

Abiogenic Origins of Hydrocarbons: An Historical Overview
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TreeFarmer · Heavy Crude Joined: Jun 26, 2007 Posts: 347

Another first-poster. Sometimes I think its one of the regulars with a different name just trying to stir the pot.

What is the deal with Helium anyway? Oil is all Hydrogens and Carbons as I understand it, no Heliums in there anywhere.

TF

TheDude

Peak Oil News >> Forums >> Welcome >> The Official Abiotic Oil Thread
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bobcousins

There is a game on BBC Radio 4 called "The Unbelievable Truth", where panellists attempt to smuggle unlikely facts into an otherwise totally made up but amusing speech.

Paul's truth is that helium is created as a product of radioactive decay. The rest is basically nonsense I think.

Paul is that typical Conservative candidate, strong views on abortion and immigration, hopeless on science.
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It's all downhill from here

Dan1195 · Heavy Crude Joined: Mar 19, 2005 Posts: 275

Oil is from decayed algae and organic plant material. The oil you put in your tank was never a T-Rex, I can assure you.

notill · Coal Joined: Mar 31, 2008 Posts: 5

I had to get in on this one.

Even if the theory of oil from non-organic matter was true, and there's plenty of oil at 20,000-30,000 ft. how will we retrieve it?

Economically feasible fields are the only ones we have been and need to be concerned with.

Tanada

Ivan_M · Heavy Crude Joined: Mar 29, 2008 Posts: 173

MonteQuest

Garga · Coal Joined: May 26, 2008 Posts: 2

This was my first post, but I am hopeless at science. Someone on another forum stated the helium theory. I just wanted a few facts because I'd never heard of it before.

I never said I went along with it.

There are so many opinions out there that it's difficult to know who to believe. I personally believe in the Peak Oil Theory, but my knowledge is very limited and so it is based on other peoples opinions, the ones I find to be more believable.

The never-ending oil fairytale is appealing and even if it were partially true, it would never solve the problems of ever-increasing demands.

anagami

ROCKMAN

Garga,

Don't be humbled by any of the responses. I've been a petroleum geologist for over 30 years and fully understand the theory of the deep earth origin of hydrocarbons. I completely reject the idea but if you were in a Russian chat room you would be hearing many educated professionals poo-pooing the organic origin model. The Russians have long held to the inorganic origin. They have been drilling one well in Siberia for over 20 years trying to reach down into the earth's mantal to prove the theory.

Most really dumb ideas usually have some initial basis in fact. Some dumb ideas even turn out to be true. Over 30 years ago 99.9% of the oil prtofessionals were sure there were no deep water reserves to be had in the Gulf of Mexico. Now 40% of the production in the GOM comes from these fields.

threadbear · Expert Joined: Jan 22, 2005 Posts: 7738

What about decayed bacterial casings and dead insects, leaves etc...? The composition of good soil, is mainly bacterial casings, and plant matter. It's not all coming from plankton. Is it? And naturally occuring oil closer to the earth's core, could also be one of the sources. It hasn't been disproven. It would just cost way more to get to it, if that was even possible to make it worthwhile.