[Aurelius]

If this was posted before, I couldn't locate it. I have no idea if this guy is right or not. If he is, the implications are enormous.

For me, it will be almost as gratifying to see another case where the expert consensus of the experts in their area of expertize is shown to be so much bovine fertilizer. And if this isn't such a case? Well, we'll just have to wait till another one does come along.

This article also appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, June 11, 2001, under the title "Oil forever"

[dirtboy]

ping

[spycatcher]

PETROLEUM RESERVES EVALUATED WITH MODERN PETROLEUM SCIENCE

Another Washington Post article here

[FairWitness]

"It's life Jim, but not as we know it"! (Dr. McCoy, Star Trek

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

BTTT for later reading!

[ChemistCat]

My geology professor at OU maintains that the evidence suggests that oil and natural gas may very well be formed continuously, and that we're not any more likely to run out of petroleum than we are to run out of water or basalt. Could be, could be.

[LibWhacker]

I remember reading about this guy's theory WAY BACK. In the 70s, I think. Problem was, back then, nobody was willing to pay the enormous costs associated with drilling such deep wells without at least some prospect that they could recoup their investment. And one man's word wasn't good enough.

Laser drilling may be the answer as it can be done for a fraction of the cost of conventional drilling.

I don't know if there is anything to Gold's theory, either. But I sure as heck want to find out. If true, it would put those corrupt, murderous Bedouin creeps in the Middle East out of business real fast, and they'd soon find themselves riding around on camels again, living their traditional nomadic life.

[TXBubba]

Oil wells that are pumped dry will simply refill themselves as more methane and petroleum works its way upward to fill the emptied spaces in the rock. This has already happened in a few places, geologists agree - something that is hard to explain by the conventional theory, but lends support to Gold's unorthodox view.

If it has already happened in a few places then his theory can't be totally off the wall can it?

[Richard Axtell]

This is about science, not politics or economics, and so... the scientific method should offer a clue. It should be possible to conduct experiments, both in the field and the lab, that would either support or discount the basis of this theory. For instance, has any of his theorized "deep hydrocarbon fixing microbes" been collected via deep drilled core samples? If so, what do they do in experimental conditions in the laboratory? Plus, I've always heard and read that coal is the result of millions of years of terrestrial plant life, not petroleum. The billions and billions of tons of plant-biomass material being accumulated and compressed in bogs and swamps became metamorphosed into peat, then lignite, bituminous, and finally anthracite coal. This makes sense as I have personally collected fern and plant fossils associated with coal mines in Illinois. As I remember it, oil and petroleum hydrocarbons are the result of accumulation, compression, and metamorphization of sea plankton, or diatoms. Former college buddies of mine, who studied geology and paleontology, were hired by oil companies to study fossil diatoms found in seabed cores, to determine the best offshore oil drilling locations. Anyone have more to add that might enlighten us as to where this all fits in?

[biblewonk]

This guy reminds me of Ranger Gord from the Red Green show. Notice that his name is Gold.

[HopeSprings]

Gold is the P. T. Barnum of the oil industry. Same old stuff that he's being touting for years. Don't believe it.

[The Great RJ]

I always wondered why all the dinosauers went to Saudi Arabia to die.

[The Truth Will Make You Free]

Fascinating article. The theory that oil is the product result of ancient decayed organic matter has serious problems. Just a few... How could so much organic matter gather in one place before being decomposed? How come scientists can't make oil from organic material by subjecting it to heat and pressure? This man has shaken off the preconceptions of a believed theory and developed one that fits experience better. Rather than adjusting facts to support the theory, he changes the theory to support the facts.

[Mark]

Didn't Algore invent this theory?

[Alex Murphy]

Earlier today we got The Fat Zapper.

Next thing you know, they'll be telling us that we don't need to drill in the Arctic (or anywhere else), because we can suck an unlimited supply of oil from the faces of acne-laden teenagers.

[Psalm 73]

Oddly, I've always thought petroleum originating from dead plant and animal matter was a little screwy. How could there be such VAST reserves, among other questions. Glad to find out I'm not alone in this.
BTW - don't you think it a bit odd that science cannot state unequivicably where oil originates? Can there really be other options? Don't they know everything?

[Ben Ficklin]

Whether Gold is right or wrong about replenishment of oil, he is right about the existence of "deep oil".

Having followed spycatcher's link, I notice where Gold is given credit for development of the Steady State Theory. I thought Fred Hoyle developed that theory?

[74dodgedart]

Unless oil is being created at the rate of millions of barrels a day (I think the US alone goes through 12 mil a day) then its really a moot point.

[RightWhale]

Thomas Gold

Is it possible that he and Sagan had the same high-grade source?

[JoeSchem]

There's no article link?

[gjenkins]

The deep hot earth theory? I had a PHD Chemist tell me of this 15 year ago. I never mentioned it to anyone for fear of being labelled a kook. Interesting.