[liesandmorelies]

And is it possible that the earth actually needs it, rather than us? Maybe it greases a huge wheel thousands of miles below the surface.

[TorrKing]

It is the waste product from the chocolate industry. The trolls and fay folk use it as a staple food.

Torjus Gaaren

[Seraphim]

The Fay entrusted you with their secret, and this is how you repay their confidence?

[RonMN]

It's the earths lymphatic system.

[MonteQuest]

Oil is formed from microscopic organisms (plankton) that died in ancient seas between 10 million and 600 million years ago. They sank into the sand and mud at the bottom of the sea where sedimentary rocks formed called source rocks.

Heat and pressure distilled the organic material into crude oil and natural gas. The oil flowed from the source rock and accumulated in thicker, more porous limestone or sandstone, called reservoir rock.

This reservoir rock is what we drill for oil.

[ThePostman]

And is it possible that the earth actually needs it, rather than us? Maybe it greases a huge wheel thousands of miles below the surface.

Perhaps it does. Conventional wisdom says crude comes from pre-historic plant life due to the bio-organisms it contains but that seems counter-intuitive and is now being questioned by some scientists. A minority few are now arguing that the bio-organisms are "picked up" from other sources in the oil's journey inside the earth. Could be plausible, could be crack-pot thinking. It does appear that the ratio between the amount of crude we've pumped since discovery (billions upon billions of barrels) and the amount of land surface available for supporting plant life are disproportionate. Granted, there was no surburban sprawl taking up valuable real estate back then but there were still oceans, deserts, etc. that could support little or no plant life at all. It just doesn't seem to add up. I guess it's just the best theory we have to go with for now, maybe someone is studying what it would take to make this much oil. I still believe oil is not a renewable resource, I just wish there was a more viable theory on how the earth came to contain so much of it. The plant life theory just doesn't seem to hold water but the massive holes we're making in the underground fields sure seem to. Maybe we should be more worried about massive tectonic plate shifts and 12.9+ Richter scale earthquakes in the future if the earth does need this stuff more than we do. Could just be the fairies too. Again, who knows.

[netpaw]

"Heat and pressure distilled the organic material"

Any chance of elaborating on this a little further ?

Can you show scientifically how this process has been replicated in a lab under conditions that are found in the realms of the earth where oil is supposed to have formed ? No need to explain the whole thing yourself, some scientific links to show how this has been proven scientifically would be appreciated.

Cheers

[basil_hayden]

"Heat and pressure distilled the organic material"

Any chance of elaborating on this a little further ?

Can you show scientifically how this process has been replicated in a lab under conditions that are found in the realms of the earth where oil is supposed to have formed ? No need to explain the whole thing yourself, some scientific links to show how this has been proven scientifically would be appreciated.

Cheers

Well I can demonstrate this has been done in lab conditions, in fact if you use excess temp and pressure, you end up with manmade diamonds (C).

It just doesn't seem to add up. I just wish there was a more viable theory on how the earth came to contain so much of it.

You're missing the element of geologic time. And I wouldn't call a few cubic miles of oil "so much" when there's 263,306,532,170 cubic miles of Earth.

[liesandmorelies]

Is it possible that oil is repleting itself. Surely, by now based on what we thought we had, it should be well gone by now.

where does one get the "facts". Everyone has their own version, and what oil is made of, is simply a theory, we have no proof.
dont u think?
what has diamonds got to do with oil?

If i crush a banana, i get mush, how do i get oil from it?

[MonteQuest]

It does appear that the ratio between the amount of crude we've pumped since discovery (billions upon billions of barrels) and the amount of land surface available for supporting plant life are disproportionate. Granted, there was no surburban sprawl taking up valuable real estate back then but there were still oceans, deserts, etc. that could support little or no plant life at all. It just doesn't seem to add up.

Did you not read what I wrote? Oil is formed from microscopic organisms (plankton) that died in ancient seas, not big ferns or bushes or trees. The ocean is the largest source of photosynthetic growth. 70% of the earth's oxygen comes from the seas.

How does that not add up?

[basil_hayden]

Is it possible that oil is repleting itself. Surely, by now based on what we thought we had, it should be well gone by now.

where does one get the "facts". Everyone has their own version, and what oil is made of, is simply a theory, we have no proof.
dont u think?
what has diamonds got to do with oil?

If i crush a banana, i get mush, how do i get oil from it?

Crush it harder....obviously....

[MonteQuest]

where does one get the "facts". Everyone has their own version, and what oil is made of, is simply a theory, we have no proof.
dont u think?

Theory? No proof?

No, there is only one version of what oil is and where it comes from...other than the creamy nougat BS. That must be your version.