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I read somewhere that the Russians drilled wells near Baku (is that right?) that were tapped out in the 1920’s. Filling up with oil again. They think it’s from abiotic sources.

This could explain why oil is present when old wells are reopened?"It could, but the more likely explanation is illustrated by the USS Arizona. Oil is still bubbling to the surface after 68 years and no new oil is being created there. In an oilfield, only a fraction of the original oil in place is produced as it becomes uneconomic to produce at very low volumes and generally well productivity is highest when the well is brand new.

If you open up an old "cased hole" that was a producer, you will often find the casing is charged up with oil as oil [like the fuel oil in the Arizona] is lighter than water and will work its way upward over time. During the price spike last year and continuing on to the present, it became profitable to skim off this oil from certain cased holes. For a 5,000 foot well, the recovery could be 30 or 50 barrels -- using a rather inexpensive and easily transportable pump designed for this purpose. Been there, done that, but unless the well has additional potential, you would never set a regular down hole pump for that sort of recovery potential.