AboutGeorge Ardies Expertise Sedimentology and Petroleum Geology - I am also very well versed in general sciences. I am not an expert in igneous and metamorphic geology. I have completed B.Sc. in Environmental Geology at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec and a M.Sc. degree in Sedimentology at Queen`s University in Kingston, Ontario. I have about 12 years of experience in oil and gas exploration and development.
Experience Military service (Montreal, Quebec, Canada).
Bachelor of Science degree(Montreal, Quebec, Canada).
Master of Science degree (Kingston, Ontario, Canada).
Oil and gas experience for about 10 years (Calgary, Alberta, Canada).
Professional Geologist Certification.
Expert: George Ardies Date: 5/30/2008 Subject: Peak Oil - Myth or Reality?
Question There's a new topic raging as to whether oil is going to run out or if there is a limitless supply of it. The former not only claim that oil is diminishing but that much of the remaining oil will be prohibitively expensive to extract. The latter group, on the other hand, claim that oil is not of biological origin and that oil-fields are continually being replenished with new oil. Which theory is correct?
Thanks,
Geoff
Answer Dear Geoff,
My previous lang-winded response accidently got deleted, so here is a more abbreviated version...
A minority of geologists--mostly Russians--have long argued that hydrocarbons(oil and gas) was formed through inorganic processes operating on carbon sourced from the earth's mantle. That is, organic matter was not buried and slowly turned into petroleum.
Instead, theories for an inorganic origin ranged from hydrocarbons raining from the sky early in the Earth's formation and later expelled into the surface rocks where it's now found, to vulcanism, to the degassing of large volumes of methane from the mantle and later transformed into petroleum. In all cases the presence of organic markers was attributed to the petroleum picking them up as it moved through crustal rocks containing organic material.
Unforunately for the inorganic theory, all major petroleum discoveries have come from methods that assume an organic formation process, leaving only minor petroleum finds unexplained.
Hydrocarbons are almost surely derived from organic decay and because of this, petroleum reserves are limited. We will eventually run out of affordable oil and gas. Th big question is when?!?!
Please let me know if you need further information.
