Headspin

Apr 24 2008, 11:04 AM

I think the arguments used in that 321energy.com article are poorly researched, agenda-driven, factually inaccurate and not consistent with the science. it is so typical of all the anti peak-oil propaganda.

consider this:
1. application of heat to oil will "crack" it into smaller molecules (breaking the carbon-carbon bonds)
2. heat increases the deeper you go into the ground, heat increases uniformly with depth (25 Celcius per km).
3. the heat at 15,000 feet is 145 Celcius, this is high enough to crack oil into natural gas.
4. oil is produced in a very small window of about 20 feet strata of rock 7,000 feet down.

conclusion - it is impossible for oil to exist below 15,000 feet, because any that does (or did) exist will be cracked into natural gas. hydrocarbons are cracked into oil over a million years at 82 Celcius (7,500-15000 feet)

Peak oil is not about whether dinosaurs came from oil, or whether oil came from dinosaurs, it is about whether the earth can replace what we burn. the answer is no. the only question then is when will peak oil production arrive.

In 1956 Hubbert King predicted the peaking of US oil production in the early 1970s. It peaked in 1974. The same models extrapolated to world oil production predicts 2006 as world oil production peak.

http://tinyurl.com/5wxlqk