[weikel]

How is his theory mutually exclusive with the existence of shale oil?

[Physicist]

The point is that shale is a sedimentary rock. It doesn't form deep in the Earth. It's produced from the top down, and yet it often contains petroleum. Since that petroleum comes from a different source from the one he proposes, I don't see the advantage of the new theory. In the absence of evidence, new theories should at least have more explanatory power than the models they are supposed to replace. Now, that doesn't mean his idea is wrong, but he does need to provide some compelling evidence.