A few years ago, I was debating the “peak oil” theory with a friend, and I remember wondering if parts of the earth would cave in due to all the oil we extract.
Which is an interesting thought, and might be something to consider if oil was stored in underground lakes — which is what I assumed was the case. But oil is actually stored in rock. I learned this recently, so I thought I’d pass it on to those who didn’t know about this either:
Contrary to common belief, oil is not held in great underground lakes or caves. If you could “see” an oil reservoir, you would only notice a rocky structure, in which there seems to be no room for oil. But beyond the reach of the human eye, a world of often-invisible pores and microfractures entrap minuscule droplets of oil, together with water and natural gas.
Nature created these formations over millions of years. It started when huge deposits of vegetation and dead microorganisms piled up at the bottom of ancient seas, decomposed and got buried under successive layers of rock. High temperatures and pressures then slowly transformed the organic sediments into today’s oil and gas.
When such a reservoir is drilled, it is a bit like uncorking a champagne bottle. Freed from its ancient rocky prison, the reservoir’s internal pressure pushes oil to the surface (along with stones, mud and other debris). The process goes on until the pressure peters out. From then on, recovery must be assisted.
About one third of the oil in a reservoir is “immobile oil,” isolated drops trapped by strong forces within the pores of the rock. The remaining two thirds, though mobile, will not necessarily flow into the wells. In fact, usually about half of the mobile oil is stuck inside the reservoir because of geological barriers or low permeability. The situation is even worse when the oil is not a light liquid, but a heavy, viscous molasses-like substance. In that case, only a limited amount of it may be recovered through conventional technologies. (Leonardo Maugeri, “Squeezing More Oil from the Gound“)
So it looks like the earth isn’t going to cave in from extracting oil. Whew — another apocalypse averted!
Update: I spoke too soon — the oil subsidence apocalypse may soon be upon us!
If nature created oil over millions of years, doesn’t that mean that the earth has to be millions of years old?
Ok, you were faster…
Magic man done it.
“Nature created these formations over millions of years”
That’s not possible because, ya know, earth is only 6.000 years old. Oil must be devil’s work!
“And in the seventh day, God created oil deposits for us to fuel our engines…”
Everybody know that oil and coal deposits were created when all the plants drowned in the flood.
yeah, so I must have missed that part on the bible when Noah takes a plant of every kind in his arch.
And of course, just as animals did, those plants came to Noah’s location walking, flying and swimming from all over the world
He did that’s why there was no room left for dinosaurs.
“I drink. Your. MILKSHAKE! I drink it up!”
Loved that movie.
So when Old Jeb was shootin’ at some food, I guess he hit rock? :D
Also, aren’t the oil drillers generally of the conservative / republican mindset? How do they justify this? Maybe God put it there for them to drill (and make millions on)?
Maybe -only maybe- they don’t care where that oil comes from. They can pay scientists and engineers who care about how to find and extract that oil. They can also pay a human resources departement to find that people.
So their job is mainly to have the money to keep the business running and to keep a growing account in a bank.
Yep. God gave humans oil, and humans should drink it all up.
… and as the Pope said it’s all those nasty non-believers (and Protestants) fault anyway.
What is their fault? Global warming?
Nope, it was definitely those non-believers and when was the Pope last wrong about anything?
I know you were snarking, but it’s useful to point that to the right wing (Republicans) the xtrians are the “useful idiots” in their coalition.
I like to refer to the Republicans as the party of “the rich and their dupes”.
Also note that David Koch (pronounced “coke”) and his brother, of Koch Oil the largest privately held oil and gas company, are the major funders of “Americans for Prosperity” the group that astroturfed the Teabagger “movement” on healthcare / August townhalls. AFP is already “organizing” to astroturf energy reform. If you watch the news at all, you may have seen the video clip of AFP at a recent conference in Arlington, VA cheering and high-fiving after getting the news that the US lost the Olympics to Brazil. These are nasty, evil people.
There are so many wonderful things about the geology of the world, and alas, so many misconceptions.
Having to explain to a grown and college educated man that earthquakes are not the earth’s “growing pains” has definitely been a low point.
Sounds more along the lines of the theory that the earth is a living organism itself
I thought earthquakes are when the devil plays racquetball.
In the middle of the ocean?
STOP MOCKING MY BELIEFES1!11!!!
NO! haha
A former Israeli cabinet member from one of the ultra religious parties who is currently doing some time in jail (because god is dead against pork but have no problem with steeling public funds and taking bribes) have once explained on TV that earthquakes are caused by gay sex.
“earthquakes are caused by gay sex”
you didn’t know that all human suffering can be traced to gays?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPvVnrV1tow&feature=related
That’s obvious.
The first thing I thaught of when I heard this piece of scientific discovery for the first time was, gay people must be really having fun if they can make the earth shake by having sex (and I hope this ass get to experience some of it in jail).
The gods must be gay!
Is that a movie about an African bushman who finds a butt-plug that’s fallen out of a plane?
lol it’s his secrete Apocalypse plan, letting us slowly destroy our atmosphere with toxic gases. It’s amazing just how stupid car commercials are getting.
The keyword you require is “subsidence.”
Staying afloat: GPS monitors oilfield subsidence
…Due to the extraction of large amounts of oil and water from relatively shallow, uncompacted oil reservoirs (beginning in 1932), the area above and adjacent to the Wilmington Oil Field began to subside shortly after oil production began. (See Figures 1 and 2.) From the early 1940s through the late 1950s, the oil field experienced an unusually large amount of subsidence, reaching 29 feet in some areas. Since most of the Long Beach area was only slightly above sea level before oil production began, the subsidence threatened to inundate areas of both the City of Long Beach and the Port of Long Beach. Horizontal surface movements of more than 10 feet accompanying vertical subsidence caused extensive damage to existing structures, oil wells, pipelines, roadways, and U.S. Navy installations…
Oh noes! I was right!!!
I’ll be in my bomb shelter eating beanie weenies if anyone needs me.
I live in Oklahoma, and sinkholes pop up and frequently swallow home, cars, and random patches of earth. The rock is porous, and the oil was helping to take up the load. When you pump it out, the ground will sink, both suddenly in small areas and gradually in large areas. If fact, subdustion caused by oil extraction has actually already killed people.
Beanie weenies, huh? LOL!
Go for the Twinkies, the chosen food for worldwide disaster.
Maybe you need to think a little about the fracing crowd too. They insist that the chemicals they use in the fracing process, which breaks open the rock pores, has never polluted the groundwater.
What they fail to mention is that in many cases coal bed methane is found in rock that contains water. This water is therefore “groundwater” and directly polluted in the fracing process.
There are plenty of real problems with using oil and gas, subsidence is pretty low on the list.
So, we can move on from the “don’t worry, 2/3s of the oil is still in the ground” post you did the other day, Daniel?
That would be sweet… oh, wait we’d should worry now, huh? (;-))
Nope, please keep discussing until you agree with me. ;)
In Los Angeles near the ocean the land has subsided as oil was pumped from wells there. It is now diked and below sea level.
I understand that Santa Barbara has the same problem.