Oily Stuff

Our knowledge about oil originated in the age of dinosaurs, when vegetation and organism was buried over millions of years and subjected to high heat and pressure. Those extreme conditions transformed the hydrocarbons in vegetation into the hydrocarbons of petroleum.

The late Dr Thomas Gold, a scientist at Cornell University said "That's nonsense".

"There's not a shred of evidence from chemistry, geology, or any other science to support it” said Dr Gold who also theorise that other planets in the solar system have similar deep deposits of hydrocarbons, which are the stuff of oil and natural gas.

A reservoir of crude oil was discovered in the late 1960 producing about 15,000 barrels a day of high-quality crude oil. By the late 1980, production had slipped to less than 4,000 barrels per day, and the reservoir was considered pumped out.

Suddenly, in 1990, production soared back to 15,000 barrels a day, and the reserves which had been estimated at 60 million barrels in the 1970s, were recalculated at 400 million barrels. Similar results were seen at other Gulf of Mexico oil wells.

Dr. Gold strongly believed that oil is a "renewable, primordial soup continually manufactured by the Earth under ultrahot conditions and tremendous pressures. As this substance migrates toward the surface, it is attached by bacteria, making it appear to have an organic origin dating back to the dinosaurs."