Oil a renewable resource?

Question

Where does oil come from, other than the ground! Wells that were dry 10 years ago now have oil again. Is oil a renewable resource?

Read this Wall Street Journal Article and see what you think.

http://www.oralchelation.com/faq/wsj4.htm

Answer 1

There is general agreement in mainstream science that petroleum originated when organic matter in ancient muds and clays accumulated in subsiding geological basins. This sediment was heated over a period of millions of years as geological processes brought the material deeper underground. The end product depends on just how deep the organic-rich sediments were carried. At 150 - 200 C, natural gas is the end produce. At 60 - 150 C, oils are produced, and leach out of the rocks to form pockets that get trapped between impermeable layers of shale.

The geologic period when petroleum deposits can form depends on a balance between sufficient sources of organic material ( trees, plants etc with waxy 'hydrocarbon coatings') and the occurrence of the proper geologic subsidence and trapping processes. Deposits found in Precambrian rocks are rare, as are deposits in the much more recent Pleistocene 'rocks'. However, tar deposits are found in the latter rocks such as the famous 'La Brea Tar Pits' in southern California. It takes several million years for the petroleum products such as oil to migrate out of their parent rocks into the appropriate 'reservoir' rocks where they get trapped and accumulated into sub-surface pools. Radioactive dating of the rocks in which oil deposits occur span the range from the Cambrian Era to the Cretaceous Era between 65 million and 500 million years ago.

Creationists propose that these deposits were laid down by the Great Biblical Flood some few thousand years ago in 2350 B.C, when the organic deposits ( Flood victims) were entombed in the Earth. Their conversion into oil and gas deposits then took a few thousand years to the present time. So, everytime you fill up at the gas pump you are pouring liquified dead humans and ancient creatures into your car.


What is the chief evidence that disputes the Creationist proposal? The migration of petroleum from their strata of origin into surrounding rocks takes a long time, measured in millions of years, not centuries. This is based on the physics of fluid flow through semi-permeable material under a pressure gradient. There is nothing speculative about this mechanism, anymore than there is controversy over how water flows through a garden hose. There is also the problem of the time scale for conversion 'or cracking' of organic matter into oil and gas derivatives under the rather gentle temperature and pressure conditions found in nature. Again this is a matter of organic chemistry, not speculation, and the time scales are again measured in millions of years not days or centuries.

Answer 2

I think that this may be a bit of misinformation coming to you. Drilling is a very inefficient method for getting the oil out of the ground, and recovering 30% of the available oil from a well is very good.

There are many technologies that allow for wells to become more productive. These are mainly either fracturing the rock the oil is held in to make it easier for it to flow or pumping something else down one well it force oil into another.

Answer 3

yes/no

I don't konw the technical definition of renewable....but in a few million years or so....more oil will show up.

In actuality...new oil is forming every single day.......


Ok off that topic.....oil flows underground like underground rivers. ....this is known by the people that look into it. There are detailed oil flow charts that cost a lot to get a hold of.

Oil shows up in other forms too...canada just found (well few years back) a huge oil reserve....but its shale rock...saturated iwth oil.....they just recently found out how to economically extract to oil from the rock.

Also, oil is gonna be around for a while...taking into account a population increase and countries developing (china).....a huge increase in oil consumption is going to occur.....with this in mind...we still have about 100 years of oil left.

Not an expert..must've screwed up a few things..but would give myself at the minimum 80% accuracy

Answer 4

Oil is not renewable because once you burn it, it carbonizes it which is a chemical change. when you burn wood it is also not renewable which is the same concept. however what we can do is filter it and try and get the carbon deposits out of it you can re-use it but the quality will never be the same. many people who buy used motor oil is because their car is an oil guzzler or the car is old and it doesn't make a difference what oil they use.

Answer 5

And oil is not a renewable resource. It can be made using coal but coal isn´t a renewable resource either. Both oil and coal are fossil fuels and they both come from the ground.