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7/27/2019 Abiotic Theory of Oil
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AAPG‐ER Newsletter – June 2008
2
Theory of Abyssal Abiotic Petroleum Origin Challenge for Petroleum Industry
Vladimir G. Kutcherov
Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
“Every ten or fifteen years since the late 1800’s, ‘experts’ have predicted that oil
reserves would last only ten more years. These experts have predicted nine out
of the last zero oil ‐reserve exhaustions.”
C. Maurice and C. Smithson, Doomsday Mythology: 10,000 Years of Economic
Crisis, Hoover Institution Press, Stanford, 1984.
INTRODUCTION
The oil and gas industry has become a global branch of the world economy, an
important political and economic factor in our civilization. At this time, there
is no alternative source of energy which could be able to compete with
hydrocarbons for availability, abundance, efficiency and safety. Thus
currently, one may hear apocalyptic prophecies wailing about a supposedly‐
imminent approach to the end of the petroleum era; such prophecies are
universally accompanied by appeals to repent our sin of using oil and gas, and
to operate our industrial societies by energy from windmills, photovoltaic
power, etc. Contrarily, scientific consideration about the origin of
hydrocarbons and practical results of geological investigations provide an
understanding of the presence of enormous, inexhaustible resources of
hydrocarbons (Krayushkin 1986).
ABYSSAL, ABIOTIC PETROLEUM ORIGIN: EXPERIMENTAL CONFIRMATION
The theory of abyssal non‐biotic petroleum origin recognizes that petroleum
is a primordial material of deep origin which has been erupted into the crust of
the Earth. According to the theory of the abyssal non‐biotic petroleum origin,
developed during the last 50 years in
Russia and Ukraine, hydrocarbon
compounds are generated in the
mantle of the Earth. There are three
possible scenarios for mantle
petroliferous fluid migration.
According to the first; when pressure
in the fluid flow is decreased
dramatically at an almost constant
temperature, the complete
destruction of the hydrocarbons occurs. According to the second
scenario, if pressure is not high enough
to overcome a resistance of the
“locking” layer, the mantle fluid is
locked at depth between the upper
mantle and the surface. Depending on
the depth (i.e. thermobaric conditions)
the fluid could be completely or partly
destroyed within a certain time. The
third scenario deals with petroleum
deposit formation. Rising from sub‐
crustal zones through deep faults and
their feather joints or fissures, the
mantle petroliferous fluid is injected under high pressure into any rock and
is distributed there in the form of a
mushroom−like cloud. The
hydrocarbon composition of oil and gas accumulations formed this way
depends on the fluid cooling velocity during the movement of these fluids to
the surface of the Earth. However, being at shallow depths, the oil and gas
accumulations become principally stationary. They do not migrate upwards
in anticlines or synclines, or through tilted or horizontal beds until the
petroleum masses are moved further by new quantities of the mantle
petroliferous fluid (fig. 1).
Accumulation of oil and gas is one part of the natural process of the Earth’s
outgassing that was responsible for creation of its hydrosphere, atmosphere
and biosphere.
According to the theory of abyssal non‐biotic petroleum origin, the following conditions are necessary for the synthesis of hydrocarbons from non‐biotic
substances: adequate pressure and temperature, donors of carbon and
hydrogen, and a thermodynamically favorable reaction environment.
Theoretical calculations based on methods of modern statistical
thermodynamics have established that polymerization of hydrocarbons takes
place in the temperature range 600‐1500 °C and at pressures 20‐70 kbar
(Kenney et al. 2002). According to the modern scientific consideration of the
physical and chemical characteristics of continental mantle (Carlson et al.
2005), these conditions could take place deep in the Earth at depths of 70‐
250 km. Different substances can act as donors of carbon: carbon dioxide
(СО2), graphite, magnesite (MgCO3), calcite (CaCO3). Water and the hydroxyl
group of various minerals could be possible donors for hydrogen.
According to modern science analysis, all the above‐mentioned substances
are present in the mantle in sufficient amounts (Murakami et al. 2002, Isshiki et al. 2004). Favorable reducing conditions could be created by a presence of
FeO unconnected to metal‐silicates.
TECHNOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS
Figure 1. Possible scenario of the mantle petroliferous fluid migration.
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AAPG‐ER Newsletter – June 2008
4
deep faults and cracks in the crystalline basement, then penetrated into the
sedimentary rocks and created giant and super‐giant petroleum deposits.
Deep and ultra‐deep petroleum deposits.
There are more than 1000 commercial petroleum fields producing oil and/or natural gas from sedimentary rocks at the depths of 4500‐10,428 m. These
fields were discovered in 50 sedimentary basins throughout the world.
The most important and significant achievements with ultra‐deep petroleum
exploration have been made in the deepwater portion of Gulf of Mexico,
U.S.A. 20 ultra‐deep oil and gas fields have been found there at the depth of
8000‐10,428 m (Blackbeard, Caesar, Cascade, Chinook, Das Bamp, Genghis
Khan, Jack, K‐2 North, Llano, Mensa Deep, Notty Head, Ozona Deep,
Pathfinder, Pony, S.Malo, Shenzi, Stones, Tahiti, Thunder Horse North,
Thunder Horse South). Their petroleum reservoirs occur predominantly in the
turbiditic sandstones of the Oligocene, Eocene, and Paleocene ages. The
petroliferous area where the above‐mentioned submarine fields were
discovered is equal to 40⋅103 km
3. Its recoverable reserves of oil is evaluated
from 1430⋅106 to 2385⋅106 m3. This is 42‐70 % of the total recent proven oil
reserves in the U.S.A. (January 1, 2007). Data is taken from following sources: (Henderson 1998), (ChevronTexaco 2004), (Anadarko 2005).
Presence of deep and ultra‐deep petroleum deposits at depths of more than 6
km does not correspond correctly with the biotic hypothesis. This hypothesis
suggests that petroleum reserves should be significantly reduced with depth
and increasing reservoir temperature due to the destruction of hydrocarbons
and the reduction of the reservoir porosity. A presence of more than 1000
petroleum deposits at depths of 5‐10 km over the world rejects this point of
view and can be rigorously and unambiguously explained by the theory of
abyssal non‐biotic petroleum origin.
ABYSSAL, ABIOTIC PETROLEUM ORIGIN: GEOCHEMICAL EVIDENCES
Rapid progress in the method of mass spectrometry with inductively coupled
plasma (ICP‐MS) has made it possible to study the trace element composition
of not only rocks, but also of complex organic compounds, for instance oil and
its derivatives. The results of the analyses of the trace element composition of
crude oil from West Siberia by the ICP‐MS method have been recently
published (Fedorov et al. 2007).
For the West‐Siberian oils a PGE (platinoid) presence in substantial quantities,
especially of palladium, were detected. While normalizing on contents in
primitive mantle (Taylor, McLennan 1985) in oils are established positive
anomalies on U, Sr, Ti, Y, Zr, and negative anomalies on Sm, Hf, Th, Nb, Nd.
The rare‐earth elements in the West Siberian oils demonstrate a particular
type of trend characterized by enrichment of the light lanthanides (La/Yb=16‐
19) and a sharply positive Eu anomaly (fig. 2). The distribution of elements in
the oil samples investigated, and particularly of the Group VIII platinum series,
is the same as in the mantle of the Earth. Furthermore, there has never been
observed elevated abundances of palladium, europium, or the light
lanthanides in any biological material.
SUMMARY
The experimental results presented place the theory of abyssal, non‐biotic
petroleum origin in the mainstream of modern physics and chemistry. The
geological and geochemical evidences discussed above do not correspond to
the key parts of the hypothesis of biotic petroleum origin. Only the theory of
abyssal, non‐biotic petroleum origin gives convincing explanation for all
above‐mentioned data.
Therefore, aren’t the previously mentioned experimental results and
conclusions good enough to start a wide discussion on the theory of abyssal
abiotic petroleum origin? Is now the right time to begin this discussion? In my
opinion the answer is yes to both of these questions!
Corresponding author: V.G. Kutcherov, [email protected]
REFERENCES
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Figure 2. Chondrite‐normalized REE distribution patterns for oils of the Shaim
and Srednii Ob (Western Siberia) oil–gas fields. The number of the pattern
corresponds to
the
different
oil
samples.
Figure
is
taken
from
(Fedorov
et
al.
2007).