interesting newsday article about oil
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interesting newsday article about oil
For those of you that are interested, Newsday article, April 17, 2002, Robert Cooke -
Deep underwater, and deeper underground, scientists see surprising hints that gas and oil deposits can be replenished, filling up again, sometimes rapidly.
Although it sounds too good to be true, increasing evidence from the Gulf of Mexico suggests that some old oilfields are being refilled by petroleum surging up from deep below, scientists report. That may mean that estimates of oil and gas abundance are far too low.
Recent measurements in a large oilfield show "that the fluids were changing over time; that very light oil and gas were being injected from below, even as the producing [oil pumping] was going on", Mahlon Kennicutt, a chemical oceanographer, said. "They are refilling as we speak. But whether this is a worldwide phenomenon, we don't know."
Also not known, Mr Kennicutt said, was whether the injection of new oil from deeper strata was of any economic significance; whether there would be enough to be exploitable. The discovery was unexpected, and it was still "somewhat controversial" within the oil industry.
Mr Kennicutt, a faculty member at Texas A&M University, said the inflow of new gas, and some oil, had been detectable in as little as three to 10 years. In the past, it was not suspected that oilfields could refill because it was assumed the oil formed in place, or nearby, rather than far below.
Harry Roberts, a marine geologist at Louisiana State University, said: "Petroleum geologists don't accept it as a general phenomenon because it doesn't happen in most reservoirs. But in this case ... you have a very leaky fault system that does allow it [petroleum] to migrate in".
What the scientists suspect is that very old petroleum - formed tens of millions of years ago - has continued migrating up into reservoirs that oil companies have been exploiting for years. But no-one had expected that depleted oil fields might refill themselves.
"No-one has been more astonished by the potential implications of our work than myself," said Jean Whelan, an analytic chemist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
The first sketchy evidence of this emerged in 1984, when Mr Kennicutt and colleagues from Texas A&M University were in the Gulf of Mexico working on "seeps", areas on the sea floor where sometimes large amounts of oil and gas escape through natural fissures.
They found "odd looking sea-floor creatures" identified as tube worms - creatures that get their energy from oil and gas rather than from ordinary foods.
The discovery of abundant life where scientists expected a deserted sea floor also suggested that the seeps have been there for a long time. Indeed, the clams found around them were thought to be about 100 years old, and the tube worms might live as long as 600 years or more, Mr Kennicutt said.
The oil industry has not shown great enthusiasm for the idea - arguing that the upward migration is too slow and too uncommon to do much good.
However, Ms Whelan says measurements taken involving biological and geological analysis, plus satellite images, "show widespread and pervasive leakage over the entire northern slope of the Gulf of Mexico".
Newsday
Deep underwater, and deeper underground, scientists see surprising hints that gas and oil deposits can be replenished, filling up again, sometimes rapidly.
Although it sounds too good to be true, increasing evidence from the Gulf of Mexico suggests that some old oilfields are being refilled by petroleum surging up from deep below, scientists report. That may mean that estimates of oil and gas abundance are far too low.
Recent measurements in a large oilfield show "that the fluids were changing over time; that very light oil and gas were being injected from below, even as the producing [oil pumping] was going on", Mahlon Kennicutt, a chemical oceanographer, said. "They are refilling as we speak. But whether this is a worldwide phenomenon, we don't know."
Also not known, Mr Kennicutt said, was whether the injection of new oil from deeper strata was of any economic significance; whether there would be enough to be exploitable. The discovery was unexpected, and it was still "somewhat controversial" within the oil industry.
Mr Kennicutt, a faculty member at Texas A&M University, said the inflow of new gas, and some oil, had been detectable in as little as three to 10 years. In the past, it was not suspected that oilfields could refill because it was assumed the oil formed in place, or nearby, rather than far below.
Harry Roberts, a marine geologist at Louisiana State University, said: "Petroleum geologists don't accept it as a general phenomenon because it doesn't happen in most reservoirs. But in this case ... you have a very leaky fault system that does allow it [petroleum] to migrate in".
What the scientists suspect is that very old petroleum - formed tens of millions of years ago - has continued migrating up into reservoirs that oil companies have been exploiting for years. But no-one had expected that depleted oil fields might refill themselves.
"No-one has been more astonished by the potential implications of our work than myself," said Jean Whelan, an analytic chemist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
The first sketchy evidence of this emerged in 1984, when Mr Kennicutt and colleagues from Texas A&M University were in the Gulf of Mexico working on "seeps", areas on the sea floor where sometimes large amounts of oil and gas escape through natural fissures.
They found "odd looking sea-floor creatures" identified as tube worms - creatures that get their energy from oil and gas rather than from ordinary foods.
The discovery of abundant life where scientists expected a deserted sea floor also suggested that the seeps have been there for a long time. Indeed, the clams found around them were thought to be about 100 years old, and the tube worms might live as long as 600 years or more, Mr Kennicutt said.
The oil industry has not shown great enthusiasm for the idea - arguing that the upward migration is too slow and too uncommon to do much good.
However, Ms Whelan says measurements taken involving biological and geological analysis, plus satellite images, "show widespread and pervasive leakage over the entire northern slope of the Gulf of Mexico".
Newsday
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From: Buffalo, NY US
Wow!!!!!
That sure is interesting! I'd never had thought that would/could happen either!
I'm not a geologist but I'm wondering if by all this upward migration of oil & gas flowing into the "empty" pockets if it's going to contribute to earthquakes. Logic would dictate that when the migrating substances flow upward they leave behind other empty spaces which would be more prone to collapse & shifting. I sure hope that's not the case! If so, maybe we'd better STOP the exploitation of these areas!
As for the oil & gas companies not showing interest it doesn't surprise me. If they have replenishable supplies how can they "justify" hiking prices based on limited supply? I'd be surprised if they took full advantage of these supplies, simply so they can inflate their prices & increase their profits. I've never heard of a gas or oil company that wasn't greedy.
Thanks for posting this - I found it amazing. Wonder what will come of this?
I'm not a geologist but I'm wondering if by all this upward migration of oil & gas flowing into the "empty" pockets if it's going to contribute to earthquakes. Logic would dictate that when the migrating substances flow upward they leave behind other empty spaces which would be more prone to collapse & shifting. I sure hope that's not the case! If so, maybe we'd better STOP the exploitation of these areas!
As for the oil & gas companies not showing interest it doesn't surprise me. If they have replenishable supplies how can they "justify" hiking prices based on limited supply? I'd be surprised if they took full advantage of these supplies, simply so they can inflate their prices & increase their profits. I've never heard of a gas or oil company that wasn't greedy.
Thanks for posting this - I found it amazing. Wonder what will come of this?