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Page added on November 19, 2014
Abiogenic Oil, Is It The End Of Peak Oil Fears?
Oil. Some of the everyday uses are obvious. We use oil as fuel for heating and transportation, we make plastics and textiles from oil, and many common medications such as A.S.A. are also made from petroleum. The dependency on oil by modern society is likely understood only to a small degree by many of us. Sure, we all “think” we know how dependent we are on the black gold, but most of us likely underestimate it.
Another misunderstanding about oil, as it turns out, seems to be its origin. For the past 250 years or so, we have all believed the abiogenic theory that oil is produced by dead organic matter. However, a new theory as to the origin of oil has surfaced called the abiogenic theory. The theory’s adherents believe that oil originated as carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas rising through the deep layers of the Earth’s crust. If this mixture was lucky enough to find zirconium-containing minerals, it could react and produce petroleum hydrocarbons, meaning that the earth naturally, and continuously, produces oil. In fact, it would seem that three Swedish researchers have proven not only that oil is produced abiogenically, but that the whole idea of it being a fossil fuel is false.
But wait, like so many other issues of great significance, not everyone agrees with this newly formed theory. One of the so called facts that are supposed to prove the abiogenic theory is that previously capped “dry” oil wells have been reopened due to regeneration…but not so fast. Apparantly, most of these wells were capped when oil extraction percentages were somewhere around 35%. Newer technology and pumping techniques now allow for 65% extraction or more…thus explaining the so called regeneration.
Ridiculing new science and theories is not a new phenomenom…after all, the world was once considered to be flat, and the poor schmo that had the audacity to suggest otherwise was utterly ridiculed by the scientific community of that time. So, could it be true that the earth is naturally generating crude oil with inexhaustible sources? Sure, why not! But does that really matter?
One thing that history has shown us over and over again, is that the mishandling of crude oil has detrimental effects on our environment. We all remember the Exxon Valdez spill of 1989, when 11 million gallons of crude were spilled into the Prince William Sound. It’s estimated 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 killer whales died along with billions of salmon and herring eggs. As bad as that sounds, it ranks a mere 36th on the list of the worlds worst oil spills, with the worst unintentional spill being the gulf spill in 2010, which released 206 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico. The burning of petroleum products has been scientifically linked to acid rain, global warming, the production of carcinogenic byproducts, and many more environmental and health issues. Need we explore more?
So let’s go back and consider for a moment that the earth is indeed round, and that oil is produced naturally and constantly. The biggest question should be how fast is oil produced? Oil demand is in constant growth in today’s society. The need for cheap energy is directly linked to economic growth. Let’s keep in mind that our monetary system depends on constant growth to avoid collapse. The problem is, the more we grow, the greater our need for energy grows, leading to an infinite curve. The more we grow, the greater rate of energy growth we need to sustain that growth. Even if the earth is producing oil naturally, it stands to reason that the rate of production is finite, meaning that it can only produce a certain amount in a given time, regardless of how much we need.
Many proponents of abiogenic oil will argue that the whole peak oil idea is now moot. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. If indeed the earth is producing oil at a rate that could survive any growth curve, why then, given the age of the earth, is it not 70% covered in oil instead of water? Also, even if the earth is replenishing oil wells, why must we cap them and wait for more oil to flow into the well? The answer to this is easy…we are using it up faster that the earth can replenish it. Wow, look at that, peak oil rears it’s ugly head again, just with a slightly different definition.
If indeed oil is produced naturally and constantly, this process has a finite rate, which means that constant economic growth, which is directly related to cheap energy, cannot be maintained. So much for the end of peak oil!
www.canadianpreppersnetwork.com
15 Comments on "Abiogenic Oil, Is It The End Of Peak Oil Fears?"
Dredd on Wed, 19th Nov 2014 12:59 pm
That abiogenic argument, if true (it isn’t), puts the coup de grâce on catastrophic global warming induced climate change.
That is because there would be enough death-juice for Oil-Qaeda to cause runaway climate catastrophe (Video of carbon dioxide dispersal taken from satellite).
“Whoopie, we’re all going to die.”
midpath on Wed, 19th Nov 2014 1:13 pm
But is is obvious that oil is biogenic. It has chiral molecules from biological sources. A peak oil news site should only include this with a disclaimer to state that the theory is completely insanely wrong…
louis wu on Wed, 19th Nov 2014 2:14 pm
“So, could it be true that the earth is naturally generating crude oil with inexhaustible sources? Sure, why not! But does that really matter?”
However anything is being generated what is absolutely untrue is that are inexhaustible sources of anything contained within a finite volume.
penury on Wed, 19th Nov 2014 3:47 pm
Keep the dream alive. When things get tough you have to lie. If you tell a person something three times they will accept it as truth. The bigger the lie, the easier it is to get people to accept it. Unicorns and fairies inhabit my garden when they are not working in the crude oil creation plant. Remember HOPE is what will save us.
Guthrum on Wed, 19th Nov 2014 3:58 pm
If there’s so much “abiogenic” oil being made so easily, just tell us where to drill to find it!
earl decker on Wed, 19th Nov 2014 5:03 pm
Guthrum—What’s new? They already have synthetic oil. I use it my auto at every oil change. Better than the real deal.
eugene on Wed, 19th Nov 2014 6:23 pm
After spending a decade as a drunk and being around them since, one sure fire indication is the amount of BS that is spread in the fantasy land of denial. I could make up some line of BS myself, just for fun, but why?
Speculawyer on Wed, 19th Nov 2014 6:36 pm
Why would anyone republish an abiotic oil article. Abiotic oil theory is WRONG. It is pseudoscience.
And as Rockman often wisely points out, even if you believe it is real, it apparently works on such a slow basis that it is completely irrelevant.
Apneaman on Wed, 19th Nov 2014 8:02 pm
Abiogenic petroleum origin
“The hypothesis was first proposed in the 19th century, most notably by Prussian geographer Alexander von Humboldt, the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev and the French chemist Marcellin Berthelot. Abiogenic hypotheses were revived in the last half of the 20th century by Soviet scientists who had little influence outside the Soviet Union because most of their research was published in Russian”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenic_petroleum_origin
If you go to the link in the story you will notice the head researcher name is Vladimir Kutcherov. Yes a Russian who is in love with the old Soviet Union abiotic/Abiogenic oil (debunked) theory.
Dutchman61 on Wed, 19th Nov 2014 9:01 pm
The whole basis for calling oil a fossil fuel is the fact that the first commercial fields were in Ohio and Pennsylvania next to the coal fields. Coal is a fossil fuel. You can crack open a lump and often will find a leaf fossil. The Russians, on the other hand, never found oil near coal and always thought is was being generated under the earth. if you look at the whole gas and oil spectrum, you have dry gas which are basically all methane. You next have wet gas which includes things like ethane and propane. next up you have the light oils moving up to heavier grads of oil. The amount of gas present is lower with the heavy oils, but there is ALWAYS gas in oil. The Saudis did an ultra deep well in the 80’s that recovered adiabatic bacteria that consumed gas and produced oil. other oils have various minerals that could act as catalysts. Research has shown that methane, water and carbon can be reacted to produce oils. All you need is pressure and heat which everywhere in the lower crust. The other issue is the shear tonnage of what has been used so far compared to the tonnage of coal available. If it was fossil, we should have run out of oil 20 years ago.
The trick is learning what the production rate is underground and limiting our drawdown to that rate. Resources are finite, but we have not even scratched the surface.
adamx on Wed, 19th Nov 2014 9:02 pm
It’s not “abiogentic” but there are enough fossil fuels to kill us several times over if we can find a way to get them. I am right on the line now, the success of fracking has me thinking we just may have the ingenuity to make all those really wild, seemingly pie in the sky sources work. Methane hydrates and stuff like that. Maybe frack the world – I’m sure North Dakota isn’t the only place to exploit. Heck, maybe it’ll just be back to using coal for everything, there is still coal all over.
Either we really will find the limits of EROEI and fall back (classic PO), or we will use that ingenuity to push forward until the ecosystem and atmosphere are quite screwed. I will probably live to see one or the other, maybe both.
Peak oil, and peak fossil fuels, will come eventually… But we really are masters at finding the stuff. It’s doesn’t need to be abiotic, there is still way more than enough.
SilentRunning on Wed, 19th Nov 2014 10:30 pm
Abiogenic oil! What next, our food crisis will be solved with big-foot steaks???
What a crock of dung.
Beery on Thu, 20th Nov 2014 4:40 am
What difference does it make how it’s formed? The problem is, it’s not regenerating anywhere near fast enough.
Davy on Thu, 20th Nov 2014 5:21 am
Beer and I agree “It aint gonna help our sorry asses now”
I imagine some abiogenic processes are occurring like Dutch said considering heat, pressure, and catalyst deep in the crust. Yet Dutch to say oil is not fossil is way off. Look at the formations where it is located. We know it is ancient organic matter. Either way the forces involved are not going to help us in the next 10 years where the criticality is developing.
beachcombr on Thu, 20th Nov 2014 11:10 am
“But wait, like so many other issues of great significance, not everyone agrees with this newly formed theory.”
This is being charitable, to say the least. Pretty much no one involved in oil exploration believes this theory (other than apparently the cranks behind this website). Here’s why:
Oil source rocks are evaluated for petroleum deposits by looking at the distribution of a wide range of organic chemicals. Two classes prominently examined are hopanes and steranes. The former are generated from bacterial membrane lipids, while the later are indicative of higher plants or animals (cholesterol, for instance, decomposes to a sterane called cholestane).
There are no oils anywhere lacking these compounds. None. Zero. They are too complex to be produced abiogenically, so their presence is an indicator of past organic deposition. Game, set, match.