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A team led by researchers at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory, in Washington DC, have studied the chemical reactions of methane at high temperatures and pressures and under oxidising conditions. They say that this shows that - theoretically at least - oil can form deep in the Earth's crust without the need for decomposing plants or animal material.
Most of the crude oil and gas we use was formed hundreds of millions of years ago when vast forests decomposed under great heat and pressure below sediment in the Earth's crust.
20,000 times atmospheric pressure
But experts have also wondered if some of these hydrocarbons might form chemically in the upper mantle and are then transported through faults and fissures to shallower regions, contributing to petroleum reserves.
Methane is the simplest hydrocarbon and is abundant in the atmosphere. The new study, detailed in the journal Nature Geoscience used a diamond anvil cell (a device which puts samples under immense pressures) and a laser heat source, to subject methane to conditions which mimic those found deep inside the Earth.
Pressures there can exceed 20 thousand times that at sea level, while temperatures can exceed 1,200°C.
"We demonstrated the chemical transformation of methane to heavier saturated hydrocarbons such as ethane, butane and propane and its reversibility under the conditions of the upper Earth's mantle," said the Carnegie Institution's Alexander Goncharov.
Improved techniques
The results suggest that heavier hydrocarbons than methane could exist deep down within the crust, he said, and this process may even have contributed to our oil and gas reserves today.
Although previous experiments have reported formation of heavier hydrocarbons from methane under high pressures and temperatures, according to Goncharov, the molecules could not be identified and the process was not proven. "We overcame this problem with our improved laser-heating technique where we could cook larger volumes more uniformly," he said.
Study co-author, Vladimir Kutcherov said this theory backs up research which suggests that hydrocarbons formed in this was seep up through deep faults in the Earth's crust, where they form larger deposits. "So, our planet may have enormous, inexhaustible resources of hydrocarbons," he said.
The synthesis and stability of the compounds used in this study need to be explored over the full range of conditions within the Earth's mantle, however, the researchers said. The extent to which these hydrocarbons survive migration into the crust also needs to be established.
"These and related questions demonstrate the need for a new experimental and theoretical program to study the fate of carbon in the deep Earth," Kutcherov told Cosmos Online.
Volume may not be significant
Ian Nicholls, an expert on petrology at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, said the results are interesting, but doesn't believe oil would be formed in useful volumes by the reactions suggested in the study.
Nicholls said the research might not be significant in practical terms because of the tiny volumes formed and the small chance of getting the materials up to the crust in useable form.
"This research is of interest and probably confirms that hydrocarbons can be produced this way but what we know of the content of the mantle is that the volume of this material is small and whether it is relevant compared to the amount of organic material created I very much doubt," he said.
The article says: "Most of the crude oil and gas we use was formed hundreds of millions of years ago when vast forests decomposed under great heat and pressure below sediment in the Earth's crust."
The truth is that we have already utilized about 5 times as much crude oil as could ever have been created by 'decomposing plant material'. Not only that, but I have personally spoken to quite a few knowledgable people who work for major oil companies in a variety of capacities, and it is apparent that it is a well known fact in the industry that oil is predominately "abiotic", which means that it is formed without any connection to fossil remains.
It is probable that 'some' of the oil found is actually a result of decompostion of biological material, but even then, it is likely that much of the organic materials found in these oils is simply because of their being dissolved or suspended in the flow of crude oil being transported upward from beneath deep in the earth.
That oil is essentially abiotic is illustrated by the deep Russian wells which have been drilled in areas which were not supposed to contail oil reserviors, but nevertheless, have been producing copious amounts of oil from depths where there is no chance at all that 'biological materials' have been there and are decomposing into oil.
Another indicator is that many oil wells in the US which were supposedly 'used up' which ended their production have now 'refilled' and could be again 'turned on' and produce substantial quantities of crude.
Besides all this, there is a tremendous sea of oil below several of the western states of the US, which is estimated at 2 to 3 TRILLION Barrels of Oil! This most certainly could not have been produced by decaying 'fossils' and is so much oil that it could supply the entire US for at least 2,000 years and could be produced for a cost of about 18 dollars a barrel!
The idea that has been promoted that crude oil is a limited and finite resource is designed to both raise prices and increase control over the populace. Nothing else!