Revolutionary discovery means world may not run out of crude

[mgt23]

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/279153

A team of scientists based at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden have made a "revolutionary" discovery about how hydrocarbon is formed, learning that animal and plant fossils are not necessary to form crude oil.
The discovery, the scientists say, means that the world will never run out of crude oil. Currently, theory states that crude oil is formed very slowly - over millions of years - from the remains of dead plants and animals. Buried under rock, over time the pressure and temperature of natural earth processes results in the creation of crude oil. But that theory is now old news, as the scientists, led by Vladimir Kutcherov, say they have proven that fossilized plants and animals are not needed to create hydrocarbons.

    "Using our research we can even say where oil could be found in Sweden,"

Kutcherov told Science Daily.
The article, titled Methane-derived hydrocarbons produced under upper mantle conditions, and published in Nature Geoscience, states that

    "Whether hydrocarbons can also be produced from abiogenic precursor molecules under the high-pressure, high-temperature conditions characteristic of the upper mantle remains an open question. It has been proposed that hydrocarbons generated in the upper mantle could be transported through deep faults to shallower regions in the Earth's crust, and contribute to petroleum reserves."

Kutcherov has said that his next step is to conduct experiments that will help him refine his new method for finding drilling points.
The idea of endless oil might be a bane to environmentalists and high-stakes oil production fields, such as Canada's oil sands, but most of the world's population will thrill to the idea that they will not have to give up their beloved automobiles. Not only will it be a much simpler matter to find and extract petroleum fuels, but, as Kutcherov's theories become reality, prices for natural gas and gasoline products should decrease. Kutcherov said the world is reliant on crude oil and natural gas, which makes up 61% of fuels currently used.
Kutcherov had recently proven that hydrocarbons can be created out of water, calcium carbonate and iron, and this means that crude oil is a sustainable, renewable resource, according to reports. However, this discovery does not mean that emissions from the combustion of hydrocarbons do not create climate change.
Kutcherov is a professor at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden.
Last year Science Magazine published an article that said crude oil is created by an abiotic process and not from fossil fuels. These recent discoveries were found by building on a German process referred to as the Fischer-Tropsch type (FTT) genesis. Germany had plenty of coal but very little petroleum, which prompted a serious push by German scientists to find a way to create a substitute fuel. The FTT process was developed and patented in the 1920s, and was subsequently used throughout World War II by Germany and Japan. The process has been the basis for the creation of jet fuel made from water in the United States, as reported by Wired magazine.
While Kucherov's experiments have been proven in the laboratory, they have yet to be translated into reality, and there is no word on how long the world might have to wait to take advantage of the new discoveries.

[jai_mann]

I hate citing wiki but here's a link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenic_petroleum_origin

There's been a different approach for some time but that's never talked about by our whores in academia. I've had at least 3 geology courses and not once did this topic come up. Peak oil was pushed like crazy though.

One other interesting issue pushed was fresh water scarcity. I anticipate control issues over water resources even though I see another scam right there.

Damn academia whores!

[hurensohn]

The oil wells in Texas and Oklahoma that was drilled dry during the 1920s is now again full with crude oil. Anyone care to find the local news articles?

[abduLMaria]

The oil wells in Texas and Oklahoma that was drilled dry during the 1920s is now again full with crude oil. Anyone care to find the local news articles?

the question is, how much oil can we get from them ?

i don't know anybody that denies the existence of abiotic oil (oil that doesn't rely on hydrocarbons).  but - most of the oil pumped today is biological in origin.  and, production rates are declining.

the US had a production peak about 1970.  that's not a theory.  it's also not a theory that if you sum up the individual countries' production, you get world production - for which we will also observe a peak.

of course, since much of the oil is left in the ground, it's not surprising that oil seeps and old wells replenish.

it's also quite possible that via "enhanced recovery techniques", that we'll be able to recover oil that was previously un-attainable - and could even observe a future peak in production that is higher than a past peak.  the problem is, some of those "enhanced techniques" - e.g. water injection - damage oil-fields, so that total production from a given field is reduced.

the world had a production peak in 2005 and again in 2008.  at about 75 million barrel per day crude oil, 84 mbpd total liquids (e.g. including oil from oil sands).  IEA head Fatih Birol is predicting about a 9% production drop for 2009.  we'll know how that turned out pretty soon.

for people that mention abiotic in the context of "not running out of oil", the questions are -
*  where is the oil ?  (where on the earth to drill, latitude & longitude.)
*  what recovery techniques are necessary to get the oil ?

the people that have spent their careers studying these things are guys like Matt Simmons, Robert Hirsch, and Ken Deffeyes.

Financial Sense had a round-table discussion with Simmons & Hirsch in December 2008.  their knowledge of the oil industry is humbling.  if you want to debate "peak oil or not peak oil", these are the guys to debate.

http://www.netcastdaily.com/broadcast/f ... 1213-2.mp3

[evanlong]

One other interesting issue pushed was fresh water scarcity. I anticipate control issues over water resources even though I see another scam right there.

Here's an entire section of the BBC website related to the "Fresh Water Crisis":

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static ... efault.stm

The WTO has also stated in the last few years that the next world war will be about water.  (Yet another managed crisis for economic/political/social change.)

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 091234.htm

Saturn's Moon Titan May Have Subsurface Ocean Of Hydrocarbons

ScienceDaily (Apr. 6, 2009) — Saturn's largest moon, Titan, may have a subterranean ocean of hydrocarbons and some topsy-turvy topography in which the summits of its mountains lie lower than its average surface elevation, according to new research.
Titan is also more squashed in its overall shape—like a rubber ball pressed down by a foot—than researchers had expected, said Howard Zebker, a Stanford geophysicist and electrical engineer involved in the work. The new findings may help explain the presence of large lakes of hydrocarbons at both of Titan's poles, which have been puzzling researchers since being discovered in 2007.