If nuclear bombs are used over the oil fields in the mid east what would be the effect on the oil underground?

Question

Would the oil become a supercharged source of energy or what?

Answer 1

A nuke produces four kinds of energy: kinetic, heat, light, and atomic radiation. Save possibly the kinetic energy, none of these energies would reach oil deposits deep under ground. The kinetic energy, if it were big enough or the oil deposits shallow enough, might crush or otherwise alter the stone, sand, and such the oil is found in. And of course, anything on the surface would be toast...so to speak.

The soil and, if shallow enough, crude oil raised as the mushroom cloud would be irradiated. Depending on the composition of the soil/crude, that irradiation could last years, decades, or centuries, and, depending on prevailing winds and other climatic conditions, be deposited over the oil fields and elsewhere...including around the Earth. In any case, it would be a very long time before mankind could enter those oil fields to produce oil again.

To answer your question, no the crude oil would not become a super fuel. Radiation does not work that way. The power that comes from petro fuels stems from combustion, not from atomic energy. If crude were irradiated and used, the by products of combustion might also be irradiated...depends on a lot of things. But if they were, we certainly would not want to send atomic radiation into our air.

Answer 2

Probably nothing really would happen to the underground oil. Everything that burns, needs oxygen, and oil underground is not exposed to the air so it wouldn't burn or do anything.

Answer 3

earth would be demolished!