[Vwdiesel] Rabbit droppings # 192 ---- ( the bubbling CRUDE ? )

[Hayden Chasteen]

See answers to some of your questions below the quotes
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "H . Hagar." <h_hagar at prcn.org>
To: <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2005 11:09 AM
Subject: [Vwdiesel] Rabbit droppings # 192 ---- ( the bubbling CRUDE ? )
> My first question was  WHAT made the CRUDE ?   --second question ? ---WHEN 
> was it made ?.

Petroleum and Natural gas are formed when organic matter, mostly microscopic 
remains of plants (not dinosaur parts) are deeply buired by sedimentary 
processes and then subjected to increasing pressure and heat with burial. 
Essentially, the earth does what any good refinery does - cook stuff under 
pressure.  Now how long does it take?  Well the answer varies.  Much of the 
Middle Eastern and North Shore Oils are found in geologically young (say 
less than 60 million years) rocks but testing of the oil indicates that it 
actually migrated there from deeper older rocks.  Although there is some 
variation depending upon where you are, most of the worlds oil is souced 
from rocks in the range of 150-20 million years or so some a bit older, some 
a bit younger.  That means is takes along time to make oil.

> I have now been waiting about 30 years  ---and got no GOOD answer so 
> far.------ Is it
> being CREATED as fast as we burn it ?   ---I doubt it..  BUT is it still 
> being made ? --I
> think so.

Is oil forming today?  Most certainly, but not at a time scale that will do 
us any good.  We are burning oil and gas at a much faster rate than it could 
ever be replenished.

> James Hansen knows about the climate at the Tar Sands deposits ---and yes 
> there is a pile
> of it there..
> BUT like he said if it takes a barrel to get one ? ---- then we have 
> problems with the
> price at the pump

I used to work for Sun (old Sunoco) and they ran a large "synfuel" plant up 
in the Athabaska Tar sands.  The tar must be steamed off the sand particles 
under pressure so it is pretty expensive to do so but at todays price, VERY 
econmical.  Biggest problem is that the mine has to be basically shut down 
in the winter.  It gets so could that the sand/tar mass becomes extremely 
hard, too hard to mine without explosives and that would cost.  So they 
spend the warm months mining like crazy and filling big sheds with the stuff 
so they can continue to produce during the winter.

Just thought I would pass on a bit of knowlege after all these years as a 
Geologist.  More Questions anyone?  ;^)
Hayden