If Oil Occurs Naturally As A Fossil Fuel, Why doesn't it break down naturally?

Originally posted by abecedarian
2) One of the oldest known rock formations on Earth is near Hudson Bay, Canada, dated to 3.8 Billion years ago. One could rather safely assume that rocks in, around and beneath that are at least relatively, similarly aged, possibly even older. So why would there be oil, natural gas and such, located there, beneath rocks that were around before there were plants (around 1200 million years ago)?

Why are you asking about plants?

Oil can come from other organisms.

fossil.energy.gov...

dead plants and animals slowly decomposed into organic materials and formed fossil fuels. Different types of fossil fuels were formed depending on what combination of animal and plant debris was present, how long the material was buried, and what conditions of temperature and pressure existed when they were decomposing.

oil and natural gas were created from organisms that lived in the water and were buried under ocean or river sediments. Long after the great prehistoric seas and rivers vanished, heat, pressure and bacteria combined to compress and "cook" the organic material under layers of silt. In most areas, a thick liquid called oil formed first, but in deeper, hot regions underground, the cooking process continued until natural gas was formed.

The same types of forces also created coal, but there are a few differences. Coal formed from the dead remains of trees, ferns and other plants that lived 300 to 400 million years ago.

A theory I read 25 or so years ago stated that oil is the result of pressure, heat, water and ethane gas. This might explain why some wells thought to be "dry" have been discovered to be "refilling" themselves. So much for "peak" oil.

Nobody is trying to con anyone. The fossil fuel theory was just that, a theory developed by using science and technology available at the time. If a fossil fuel, or anything else, it wouldn't affect the price to find, drill, pump and distribute it.

People forget that Shell, BP et al are ENERGY companies. Interesting to note that a land based oil well uses an average of 75 X 75 feet. To equal the energy of one well would require 30,000 acres of land for a wind farm, and almost 40,000 acres for a Solar Farm. Are there really people out there that believe we can get enough energy using either/both of those sources? Really?

The average profit of world oil companies is 8 cents per dollar invested. Not much, is it? You try running a business and raising a family on that! The reason for the huge profits is because they sell lots of product, is all. For comparison, Wal Mart makes about 4% profit. The Federal Government in America makes THREE TIMES MORE in fees, taxes, etc, than the oil companies. So..... who's gouging??

America has enough oil and natural gas to provide us with energy for 2,000 years.... more that the entire Middle East, and throw in Russia and Venezuela, too; and I'm sure we'll come up with an alternative energy source way before it's all gone.

reply to post by Arbitrageur


"..... oil and natural gas were created from organisms that lived in the water and were buried under ocean or river sediments. Long after the great prehistoric seas and rivers vanished, heat, pressure and bacteria combined to compress and "cook" the organic material under layers of silt. In most areas, a thick liquid called oil formed first, but in deeper, hot regions underground, the cooking process continued until natural gas was formed."

REPLY: Well (no pun intended), So, formed beneath the waters, on top of the earth or bedrock under the waters? How did it then get under the rocks? If formed after the water was gone, according to your theory, there wouldn't have been enough pressure/heat to do much of anything.

Also, The formation of oil by heat and pressure would drive off the gases and, being lighter than oil, would rise above it. Sorry, but your hypothesis doesn't hold water. Or oil for that matter.

Originally posted by zappafan1
Also, The formation of oil by heat and pressure would drive off the gases and, being lighter than oil, would rise above it. Sorry, but your hypothesis doesn't hold water. Or oil for that matter.

It's not my hypothesis but it makes perfect sense. Visit the grand canyon sometime where you can see layer upon layer of sedimentary deposits.

Sediments are like sand or mud (clay) Depending on what features are eroded to create the sediments, you can get layers of mostly sand or mostly clay. The organisms get buried with these layers. More layers form on top and those on bottom get compressed and turn into rock/oil.

The clay layers can be impermeable, while the sand layers are permeable. That means the clay layers can trap oil and gas deposits in sandy layers underneath them. Because the clay is not permeable, it traps them and they can't rise unless you drill a hole to get access to them.

I used to be an oil prospector of sorts so I know something about these matters.