But it's not even controversial that the deeper you drill in search of hydrocarbons the less likely those will be found in the form of oil. Deeper means hotter and oil can't survive in inferno conditions, commonly found at depths of six miles and often much less. If Dr. Gold was right, deep oil would be much more common than shallow oil deposits. It's not. It's much more rare.
If Dr. Gold was right, it really wouldn't matter where you placed the drilling rig. Just point your drillbit toward the center of the earth, and you're Jed Clampett.
It doesn't work that way, either. It turns out that drilling to a rock formation formed in a marine environment gives the best chance of success. Everything points to looking at places where organic matter was buried in a quiet and stable underwater environment.