Is crude oil biogenic or Abiogenic? Where does crude come from?

Jump to Last Post 1-6 of 6 discussions (6 posts)
  1. Dennis Pace profile image59
    Dennis Paceposted 13 years ago

    Is crude oil biogenic  or  Abiogenic?   Where does crude come from?

    what is the origin of crude oil?

  2. minso profile image60
    minsoposted 13 years ago

    Crude is naturally formed in the layers of earth through chemical reaction of various minerals over thousands of years and basically contains hydrogen and carbon compounds making it combustible.

    It is a natural product but it is available only in limited areas on earth. After initial exploration, oil wells are dug and crude oil is pumped up, refined and cleaned and during this process, various products are extracted- kerosene, petrol, methane gas etc, which are used as fuel for homes, vehicles and industries.

    Because it is a natural product formed over thousands of years, it is estimated that we may not have enough fuel left after  a few decades. So the research about alternative sources of energy like solar energy is picking up.

    Crude oil is natural and biodegradable, however the process is slow because of the nature of the material.

  3. guitar-alley profile image61
    guitar-alleyposted 13 years ago

    The action of living organisms and carbon deposits is thought to be Abiogenic
    Crude oil comes from deep within sea bed and is a composite mixture of organic materials and is biogenic.

  4. jvhirniak profile image91
    jvhirniakposted 13 years ago

    I would think it is biogeneic as it comes from plant matter hundred of millions of years old that was subjected to heat and pressure over time; ancient forests of the Jurassic and Triassic periods, c. 100 million years ago, plus. These vast forests covered the land masses and evenutally decomposed over time, and were later covered in sediments. Coal comes from the same process.

  5. tpshah profile image60
    tpshahposted 13 years ago

    The natural form of oil is called crude oil. Oil is developed from once living organisms that were transformed over geologic time into hydrocarbons from heat and pressure as the organisms were being buried and lithified. Straight from the earth, crude oil contains hydrocarbons plus small amounts of oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, salt, water, and trace amounts of certain metals. Oil is found primarily in sedimentary rocks including limestone, sandstone, and shale. Crude oil is found in varying viscosities (thickness) depending on variabilities in the environment in which it was formed. The types and thickness of oil is determined by the number of carbon atoms that make up the hydrocarbon chain molecule. The more carbon atoms the thicker the oil. Oil refineries, using heating and distillation processes, break up long-chain hydrocarbons and separate crude oil into gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, lubricating oils, waxes and asphalt. After further processing at petrochemical plants, crude oil can be converted to fertilizer and plastics. Note that "bedrock" is the solid rock that underlies loose materials such as dirt, clay, sand, and gravel on the surface of the ground. Oil is ALWAYS found below bedrock. Oil cannot be found at any depth below about 30,000 feet. Large oil/gas discoveries have been found at just a few hundred feet in Appalachia, whereas offshore drilling prospects in say the gulf coast could reach depths of 20,000 feet or more. And this whole process of oil formation is classified into two, the biogenic process and abiogenic process. Biogenic meaning formation from decomposition of dead and decayed matter (organically formed), while Abiogenic is the formation from deposited minerals gotten from the earth itself (inorganically formed).

  6. Dennis Pace profile image59
    Dennis Paceposted 13 years ago

    Has anyone researched this?  I think the idea that crude comes from deep deep deep in the earth is very interesting.....
    "Statistical thermodynamic analysis has established clearly that hydrocarbon molecules which comprise petroleum require very high pressures for their spontaneous formation, comparable to the pressures required for the same of diamond. In that sense, hydrocarbon molecules are the high-pressure polymorphs of the reduced carbon system as is diamond of elemental carbon. Any notion which might suggest that hydrocarbon molecules spontaneously evolve in the regimes of temperature and pressure characterized by the near-surface of the Earth, which are the regimes of methane creation and hydrocarbon destruction, does not even deserve consideration."
    http://www.csun.edu/~vcgeo005/Energy.html

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)