Mineral oil or liquid petrolatum is a by-product in the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline. It is a transparent, colorless oil composed mainly of alkanes (typically 15 to 40 carbons) [1] and cyclic paraffins, related to white petrolatum. Mineral oil is a substance of relatively low value, and it is produced in very large quantities. Mineral oil is available in light and heavy grades, and can often be found in drug stores.
Applications.
Refined mineral oil is used as transformer oil.
Alkali metals are often submerged in mineral oil for storage or transportation. The oil prevents the metals from reacting with atmospheric moisture.
Mineral oil is sometimes taken orally as a laxative. It lubricates feces and intestinal mucous membranes, and limits the amount of water removed from feces. Typically, mineral oil is effective within six hours. While it has been reported that mineral oil may be absorbed when emulsified, most information shows that it passes harmlessly through the gastrointestinal system.
If used at all, mineral oil should never be given internally to young children, pets, or anyone with a cough, hiatus hernia, or nocturnal reflux, and should be swallowed with care. Due to its low density, it is easily aspirated into the lungs, where it cannot be removed by the body and can cause serious complications such as lipoid pneumonia.[2] While popular as a folk remedy, there are many safer alternatives available. In children, if aspirated, the oil can work to prevent normal breathing, resulting in death of brain cells and permanent paralysis and/or retardation.
Mineral oil with added fragrance is marketed as baby oil in the US, UK and Canada.
Used as an ingredient in baby lotions, cold creams, ointments and other pharmaceuticals and low-grade cosmetics.
Certain mineral oils are used in livestock vaccines, as an adjuvant to stimulate a cell-mediated immune response to the vaccinating agent.
Used on eyelashes to prevent brittleness and/or breaking.
Used as suspending and lavigating agent in sulphur ointments.
Used in small quantities (2–3 drops daily) to clean ears. Over a couple of weeks, the mineral oil softens dried or hardened earwax so that a gentle flush of water can remove it. In the case of a damaged or perforated eardrum, however, mineral oil should not be used, as oil in the middle ear can lead to ear infections.
Lubrication
Fuel, for items such as oil lamps.
Electric mineral-oil–filled space heaters
Coolant
Fog machines
Used in some guitar string cleaners
Automotive and aviation brake fluid that does not absorb water molecules by osmosis
Low viscosity mineral oil is sold as a preservative for wooden cutting boards and utensils.
A coating of mineral oil protects metal surfaces from moisture and oxidation; notably, nihonto are traditionally coated in clove-scented mineral oil.
Food-preparation butcher block surfaces are often conditioned periodically with mineral oil.
Light mineral oil is used in textile industries and used as a jute batching oil.
Mineral oil is used to darken soapstone countertops for aesthetic purposes.
It works (albeit poorly) as a release agent for molds, especially in fiberglass casting.
It is used as a release agent for baking pans and trays.
It is occasionally used in the food industry (particularly for candy). Some studies suggest that prolonged use might be unhealthy because of low accumulation levels in organs. It has been discouraged for use in children's foods, though it is still occasionally found in candies in China and Canada.
Used as a cleaner and solvent for inks in fine art printmaking as well as in oil painting, though turpentine is more often used.
In the poultry industry, plain mineral oil can be swabbed onto the feet of chickens infected with scaly mites on the shank, toes, and webs. Mineral oil suffocates these tiny parasites.
Some people have found success using mineral oil to remove henna used as a hair dye.
Using mineral oil or baby oil to reduce a grease, oil, or asphalt stain on clothing may be counter-intuitive, but is often effective, as the mineral oil dilutes and liquefies some of the stain thereby making it easier to clean out of the clothing.
Some people have used mineral oil as a cooling system for a computer, by completely submerging the computer's motherboard and system components into an aquarium tank filled with mineral oil. The oil does not have any long term effect on the components. A video and instructions on building a mineral oil cooled computer can be found here.
It is commonly used to create a "wear" effect on new clay poker chips, which, without the use of mineral oil, can only be accomplished through prolonged use of the poker chips. The chips are either placed in mineral oil (and left there for a short amount of time), or the oil is applied to each chip individually, and is then rubbed off, removing any chalky residue from the new chips, also improving the look and "feel" of the chips.
Used to cover gummy worms for the glossy effect it produces.
Used by boxers and other combat athletes to increase sweating, reduce warm-up times and help with weight loss.
Used to remove creme makeup.
Other names for mineral oil.
adepsine oil
alboline
baby oil
bayol 55
cable oil
bayol f
blandlube
blandol white mineral oil
carnea 21
clearteck
crystol 325
crystosol
Diala-X, AX
drakeol
electrical insulating oil
ervol
filtrawhite
fonoline
frigol
glymol
Heat-treating oil
hevyteck
hydraulic oil
hydrocarbon oils
jute batching oil
kaydol
kondremul
kremol
LHM
lignite oil
liquid paraffin
lubricating oil
master Shimmer
mineral oil (saturated parrafin oil)
mineral oil hydrocarbon solvent (petroleum)
mineral oil mist
mineral oil, aromatic
mineral oil, paraffinic
mineral Seal Oil
molol
neo-cultol
nujol
oil mist
oil mist, mineral, severely refined
Oil mist, refined mineral
oil, petroleum
paraffin oil (class)
paraffin oil
parol
paroleine
peneteck
penreco
perfecta
petrogalar
petrolatum
petroleum hydrocarbons
petroleum, liquid
primol
primol 355
primol d
protopet
saxol
tech pet
f triona b
uvasol
univolt N60, 80
voltesso 35
white mineral oil
white oil
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Dismissal of the Claims of a Biological Connection for Natural Petroleum.
1. Introduction.
With recognition that the laws of thermodynamics prohibit spontaneous evolution of liquid hydrocarbons in the regime of temperature and pressure characteristic of the crust of the Earth, one should not expect there to exist legitimate scientific evidence that might suggest that such could occur. Indeed, and correctly, there exists no such evidence.
Nonetheless, and surprisingly, there continue to be often promulgated diverse claims purporting to constitute “evidence” that natural petroleum somehow evolves (miraculously) from biological matter. In this short article, such claims are briefly subjected to scientific scrutiny, demonstrated to be without merit, and dismissed.
The claims which purport to argue for some connection between natural petroleum and biological matter fall into roughly two classes: the “look-like/come-from” claims; and the “similar(recondite)-properties/come-from” claims.
The “look-like/come-from” claims apply a line of unreason exactly as designated: Such argue that, because certain molecules found in natural petroleum “look like” certain other molecules found in biological systems, then the former must “come-from” the latter. Such notion is, of course, equivalent to asserting that elephant tusks evolve because those animals must eat piano keys.
In some instances, the “look-like/come-from” claims assert that certain molecules found in natural petroleum actually are biological molecules, and evolve only in biological systems. These molecules have often been given the spurious name “biomarkers.”
The scientific correction must be stated unequivocally: There have never been observed any specifically biological molecules in natural petroleum, except as contaminants. Petroleum is an excellent solvent for carbon compounds; and, in the sedimentary strata from which petroleum is often produced, natural petroleum takes into solution much carbon material, including biological detritus. However, such contaminants are unrelated to the petroleum solvent.
The claims about “biomarkers” have been thoroughly discredited by observations of those molecules in the interiors of ancient, abiotic meteorites, and also in many cases by laboratory synthesis under imposed conditions mimicking the natural environment. In the discussion below, the claims put forth about porphyrin and isoprenoid molecules are addressed particularly, because many “look-like/come-from” claims have been put forth for those compounds.
The “similar(recondite)-properties/come-from” claims involve diverse, odd phenomena with which persons not working directly in a scientific profession would be unfamiliar. These include the “odd-even abundance imbalance” claims, the “carbon isotope” claims, and the “optical-activity” claims. The first, the “odd-even abundance imbalance” claims, are demonstrated to be utterly unrelated to any biological property. The second, “carbon isotope” claims, are shown to depend upon measurement of an obscure property of carbon fluids which cannot reliably be considered a measure of origin. The third, the “optical-activity” claims, deserve particular note; for the observations of optical activity in natural petroleum have been trumpeted loudly for years as a “proof” of some “biological origin” of petroleum. Those claims have been thoroughly discredited decades ago by observation of optical activity in the petroleum material extracted from the interiors of carbonaceous meteorites. More significantly, recent analysis, which has resolved the previously-outstanding problem of the genesis of optical activity in abiotic fluids, has established that the phenomenon of optical activity is an inevitable thermodynamic consequence of the phase stability of multicomponent fluids at high pressures. Thereby, the observation of optical activity in natural petroleum is entirely consistent with the results of the thermodynamic analysis of the stability of the hydrogen-carbon [H-C] system, which establish that hydrocarbon molecules heavier than methane, and particularly liquid hydrocarbons, evolve spontaneously only at high pressures, comparable to those necessary for diamond formation.
There are two subjects which are particularly relevant for destroying the diverse, spurious claims concerning a putative connection of petroleum and biological matter: the investigations of the carbon material from carbonaceous meteorites; and the reaction products of the Fischer-Tropsch process. Because of their importance, a brief discussion of both is in order.
1.1 The carbonaceous meteorites.
The carbonaceous meteorites, including particularly the carbonaceous chondrites, are meteorites whose chemical composition includes carbon in quantities ranging from a few tenths of a percent to approximately six percent, by mass.1-5 The age of the carbonaceous meteorites is typically 3-4.5 billion years; and their origins clearly abiotic. The mineral structures in these rocks establish that the carbonaceous meteorites have existed at very low temperatures, much below the freezing point of water, effectively since the time of their original formation. Such thermal history of the carbonaceous meteorites eliminates any probability that there ever existed on them life, or biological matter.6 The evidence obtained from scientific investigations of the carbon material in carbonaceous meteorites has destroyed many claims which assert a biological connection between natural petroleum and biological matter.
Significantly, much of the carbon material of the carbonaceous meteorites consists of hydrocarbons, as both solids and in liquid form.1, 5, 7, 8 However, the petroleum material contained in carbonaceous meteorites cannot be considered to be the origin of the natural petroleum found in the near-surface crust of the Earth. The heating which inevitably accompanied the impact process during the accretion of meteorites into the Earth at the time of its formation would almost certainly have caused decomposition of most of their contained hydrocarbon molecules. The carbonaceous meteorites provided the Earth with its carbon (albeit much of it delivered in the form of hydrocarbons) but not its hydrocarbons or natural petroleum. (The processes by which hydrocarbons evolve from the native materials of the Earth are described, and demonstrated, in the following article.)
1.2 The Fischer-Tropsch process.
The Fischer-Tropsch process is the best-known industrial technique for the synthesis of hydrocarbons, and has been used for more than seventy-five years. The Fischer-Tropsch process reacts carbon monoxide and hydrogen at synthesis conditions of approximately 150 bar and 700 K, in the presence of ThO2, MgO, Al2O3, MnO, clays, and the catalysts Ni, Co, and Fe. The reactions are as follow:
When a Ni-Co catalyst is used, the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis proceeds according to the reaction:
When a Fe catalyst is used, the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis proceeds according to the reaction:
The yield of the Fischer-Tropsch process is approximately 200 g of hydrocarbons from 1 m3 of CO and H2 mixture. During World War II, the production of liquid fuels by the Fischer-Tropsch process was used extensively in Germany; approximately 600,000 t of synthetic gasoline were synthesized in 1943.
The reaction products of the Fischer-Tropsch process are only metastable in the thermodynamic conditions of their synthesis; at pressures of approximately only 150 bar and 700 K, the destruction of liquid hydrocarbons is inevitable. During the industrial Fischer-Tropsch process, the reaction products are promptly cooled and moved to conditions of lower pressure. The natural environment does not mimic the highly-controlled, and highly-regulated, industrial, Fischer-Tropsch process. The Fischer-Tropsch process cannot be considered for the generation of natural petroleum.
2. The specious “biomarker” claims: The irrelevancy of the presence in petroleum of porphyrins, - and similarly of isoprenoids, pristane, phytane, clorins, terpines, cholestane, etc.
One may read, in almost every textbook published in the English language purporting to deal with the subject of petroleum geology, diverse claims made that the presence of certain molecules found in natural petroleum constitute “evidence,” or even “proof,” that the petroleum evolved from biological matter. Such molecules, claimed as evidence of a biological connection, include such as porphyrins, isoprenoids, pristane, phytane, cholestane, terpines, and clorins. Closer investigations have proven such claims to be groundless. Pristane and phytane are simply branched alkanes of the isoprenoid class. Cholestane, C27H48, is a true, highly-reduced hydrocarbon, but is not to be confused with the oxidized, biotic, molecule cholesterol. Cholestane and cholesterol have similar geometric structures, and share similar carbon skeletons; there the similarity ends. Cholestane is a constituent of natural petroleum; cholesterol is not. Significantly, the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis produces isoprenoids, including phytane and pristine.
Material of truly biogenic origin, such as fossil spores or pollen, is indeed often observed in petroleum, - and too often mislabeled as “biomarkers,” supposedly indicating a connection between the natural petroleum and biological material. Careful investigation has established that such material has been leached into solution by the crude oil from buried organic matter in the (typically sedimentary) reservoir rocks from which the oil has been taken.9, 10
Contrarily, the indisputably biological material, such as spores and pollen, found in petroleum can be considered as “abiomarkers” of petroleum origin. For examples, crude oil found in reservoir rocks of the Permian age always contain not only spores and pollen of the Permian age but also spores and pollen of older ages, such as, for example, the Carboniferous, Devonian and Precambrian in petroleum investigated in Tatarstan, Russia. In the same region and in other portions of the Volga-Urals geological province, crude oils in the Carbonaceous sediments are characterized with concentrations of spores of Carbonaceous-through-Precambrian ages, and crudes in the Devonian sandstones with spores of Devonian-through-Precambrian ages.9, 11
The types of porphyrins, isoprenoids, terpines, and clorins found in natural petroleum have been observed in material extracted from the interiors of no fewer than fifty-four meteorites, including amphoteric meteorites (Chainpur, Ngavi, Semarkona), bronze chondrites (Charis, Ghubara, Kulp, Tieschitz), carbonaceous chondrites of all four petrological classes (Alais, Bali, Bells, Cold Bockeveld, Eracot, Felix, Groznaia, Haripura, Ivuna, Kaba, Kainsaz, Karoonda, Lance, Mighei, Mokoia, Murchison, Murrey, Orgueil, Ornans, Pseudo, Renazzo, Santa Cruz, St.Capraix, Staroye Boriskino, Tonk, Vigarano, Warrenton), enstatite meteorites (Abee, Hvittis, Indarkh), hypersthene chondrites (Bishunpur, Bruderheim, Gallingebirge, Holbrook, Homestead, Krymka), iron meteorites (Arus (Yardymli), Burgavli, Canyon Diabolo, Odessa, Toluca), aubrite meteorites (Norton County), and ureilite meteorites (Dyalpur, Goalpara, Novo Urei).9, 12, 13
The observations of such molecules in meteorites thoroughly discredited the claims that their presence in natural petroleum might somehow constitute evidence of a biological connection. Because especially strenuous (and especially erroneous) claims are often made particularly about the porphyrins observed in natural petroleum, those molecules will be discussed in modest detail.
Porphyrins comprise a class of molecules designated cyclic ionopheres, a special class of polydentate ligands for metals. Porphyrins are heavy, approximately planar, chelating molecules, found in both biotic and abiotic systems. Several porphyrin molecules are of special biological significance: vitamin B12; chlorophyll, the porphyrin which is the agent of the photosynthesis process in plants; and the heme molecule, the porphyrin component of the protein hemoglobin which is responsible for the transport of oxygen in mammalian blood. As an example of the high molecular weight of porphyrins, hemoglobin has the empirical chemical formula, [C738H1166O208N203S2Fe]4. Neither vitamin B12, nor chlorophyll, nor heme (nor hemoglobin), nor any biotic porphyrin has ever been observed as a component of natural petroleum.
The porphyrin molecules found in natural petroleum possess different side-groups than do those of chlorophyll or heme. The central chelated metal element in chlorophyll is always magnesium; in heme, it is iron. In porphyrin molecules found in natural petroleum, the central chelated metal element is typically vanadium or nickel.
As stated, porphyrin molecules evolve both biologically and abiologically. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, porphyrin molecules, which are the same as those found in terrestrial natural petroleum, were observed in the hydrocarbon fluids extracted from the interiors of carbonaceous meteorites.
The observations of petroleum-type porphyrins in the hydrocarbon fluids extracted from the interiors of carbonaceous meteorites destroyed, a fortiori, the claims that such molecules constitute “evidence” for a connection of petroleum with biological matter. Additionally, after the observations of porphyrins in carbonaceous meteorites, those petroleum-type porphyrins were synthesized abiologically in the laboratory under chemical and thermodynamic conditions specially set to mimic the abiotic conditions in meteorites.8, 14
The “porphyrin evidence” claims were destroyed by the investigations of carbonaceous meteorites approximately thirty years ago, and are well known throughout the community of scientists working in the field of petroleum. Every compound designated as a “biomarker,” and not otherwise identified as a contaminant, has been either observed in the fluids extracted from the interiors of meteorites, or synthesized in laboratories under conditions comparable to the crust of the Earth, - or both.
Such scientific facts, and the general knowledge of same, not withstanding, every textbook published in the English language purportedly dealing with the subject of petroleum geology, including the ones cited above, continues to repeat the old discredited claims that the presence of (abiotic) porphyrins in natural petroleum provide evidence for its origin from biological matter.15-17 Such assertions, thirty years after having been demonstrated scientifically insupportable, must be acknowledged to be intellectual fraud, pure and simple.
3. The “odd-even” abundance claims, - involving the small imbalance of the relative abundances of linear hydrocarbon molecules containing an odd number of carbon atoms, compared to homologous ones containing an even number.
The claims concerning the imbalance of linear molecules containing odd and even numbers, respectively, of carbon atoms is another of the genre of “the constituents of natural petroleum ‘have the same properties as’ the constituents of biological systems, in such-or-so a way, and therefore petroleum must have evolved from biological matter.” No intelligent teenage student at, for examples, a Russian, German, Dutch, or Swiss gymnasium, would accept such reasoning. Nonetheless, such claims are commonly put forth in English-language textbooks purporting to deal with petroleum geology. Such claims are herewith shown to be without merit and insupportable.
Fig. 1 Symbolic representation of a molecule of normal octane, n-C8H18.
Natural petroleum is a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules of several classes. The most common class of molecules in petroleum is that of the normal alkanes, or n-alkanes, which have the chemical formula CnH2n+2 and a chain-like structure (as noted in the first article). For example, n-octane, C8H18, has the structure shown schematically in Fig. 1. Correctly, the carbon atoms do not lie exactly along a straight line; a picture of n-octane which more accurately represents its geometric properties is shown in Fig. 2, where n-C8H18 is drawn as a “stick-&-ball” model. Nonetheless, in both figures, the linear chain-like aspect of the n-alkane molecule is shown clearly.
Similarly as for cyclohexane as described in the first article, the hydrocarbon n-C8H18 is geometrically related to one or more biological molecules by substitution of some of the hydrogen atoms by OH radicals. Specifically, if one of the hydrogen atoms on each carbon atom in n-C8H18 were replaced by an OH radical, the resulting molecule, n-C8H18O8, would be a carbohydrate, as shown in Fig. 3, a simple sugar related to fructose (and whose chemical potential is approximately 2,500 cal lower than that of n-octane).
In a distribution of linear hydrocarbon molecules which comprise natural petroleum, the chain-like n-alkanes manifest a slight imbalance of abundances which favors molecules possessing an odd number of carbon atoms, as compared to those with an even number. Similarly, a distribution of linear biological molecules, such as the chain-like carbohydrates, manifests also a similar slight imbalance of molecules possessing an odd number of carbon atoms, again as compared to those with an even number. From this modest, and somewhat arcane, similarity of odd-to-even abundances, assertions have been made that hydrocarbons evolve from biological matter. Of course, the second law of thermodynamics prohibits such, which fact should obviate any such assertion.
Simple investigation of hydrocarbons generated from abiotic matter manifest also such odd-to-even imbalance of molecular abundances for the linear molecules. The reaction products of the Fischer-Tropsch process manifest the same odd-to-even abundance imbalances of linear molecules as do both natural petroleum, as well as biological molecules.
A specific example of the inevitable genesis of hydrocarbon molecules which manifest such odd-to-even abundance imbalances of linear molecules was demonstrated by Zemanian, Streett, and Zollweg more than fifteen years ago. Zemanian et al. demonstrated the genesis of heavy and liquid hydrocarbons at high pressures and temperatures from a mixture of methane and propane. Particularly, Zemanian et al. measured the relative abundances of the linear chain hydrocarbon molecules. Their observations, of the imbalance of abundances, and slight excess, of chain molecules with odd numbers of carbon atoms are quoted here (pp. 63-64):18
“These results are also notable when one considers the even-to-odd carbon number ratio of petroleum.
One of the arguments for a biological origin of petroleum has been that these fluids generally show a small marked prevalence of odd numbered hydrocarbons. It is also well known that living organisms produce primarily odd numbered carbon [or carbohydrate] chains. Abiological processes have been presumed to produce even and odd numbered hydrocarbons in roughly equal concentrations. The results of this work demonstrate that presumption to be false. Both biological and abiological hydrocarbon chemistries favor reactions involving two carbons over single carbon reactions [leading to preferred reactants of odd-numbered chain molecules].”
It deserves note that the “odd-even abundance-imbalance” claim, as “evidence”[sic] of a biological origin of hydrocarbon molecules, was rejected by competent physicists and statistical mechanicians, almost immediately when it was introduced. The odd-even abundance imbalance is simply a result of the directional property of the covalent bond together with the geometry of linear molecules.
4. The phenomenon of optical activity in natural petroleum: Evidence of an abiotic, high-pressure genesis.
Perhaps for reason of its historical provenance in fermented wine, the phenomenon of optical activity in fluids was for some time believed to have some intrinsic connection with biological processes or materials.20, 21 Such error persisted until the phenomenon of optical activity was observed in material extracted from the interiors of meteorites; some of which material had been believed previously to be uniquely of biotic origin.
From the interiors of carbonaceous meteorites have been extracted the common amino-acid molecules alanine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, leusine, proline, serine, threonine, as well as the unusual ones α-aminoisobutyric acid, isovaline, pseudoleucine.22-24 At one time, all had been considered to be solely of biotic origin. The ages of the carbonaceous meteorites were determined to be 3-4.5 billion years, and their origins clearly abiotic. Therefore, those amino acids had to be recognized as compounds of both biological and abiological genesis. Furthermore, solutions of amino acid molecules from carbonaceous meteorites were observed to manifest optical activity. Thus was thoroughly discredited the notion that the phenomenon of optical activity in fluids (particularly those of carbon compounds) might have any intrinsic connection with biotic matter. Significantly, the optical activity observed in the amino acids extracted from carbonaceous meteorites has not the characteristics of such of common biotic origin, with only one enantiomer present; instead, it manifests the characteristics observed in natural petroleum, with unbalanced, so-called scalemic, abundances of chiral molecules.25
The optical activity commonly observed in natural petroleum has been for years speciously claimed as “proof” of some connection with biological detritus, - albeit one requiring both a willing disregard of the considerable differences between the optical activity observed in natural petroleum and that in materials of truly biotic origin, such as wine, as well as desuetude of the dictates of the laws of thermodynamics.
Optical activity is observed in minerals such as quartz or Iceland spar, as well as in oil, and among biological molecules. The optical activity observed in petroleum is more characteristic of the same in abiotic minerals, such as naturally occurring quartz, which are polycrystalline minerals, with a scalemic distribution of domains of left- and right-rotational properties. The chiral molecules in petroleum manifest scalemic distributions, and significantly lack the homochiral distribution which characterize biotic optically active matter. The optical activity in natural petroleum is characterized by either a right (positive, or dextrorotary) or left (negative, or levorotary) rotation of the plane of polarization. By contrast, in biological material left (levorotary) rotation dominates.
The observation of optical activity in hydrocarbon material extracted from the interiors of carbonaceous meteorites, and typical of such in natural petroleum, discredited those claims.2, 26 Nonetheless, the scientific conundrum as to why the hydrocarbons manifest optical activity, in both carbonaceous meteorites and terrestrial crude oil remained unresolved until recently.
The chiral molecules in natural petroleum originate from three distinct sources: contamination by biological detritus in the near-surface strata from which the oil has been taken; the biological alteration and degradation of the original oil by microbes which consume and metabolize oil; and the chiral hydrocarbon molecules which are intrinsic to the petroleum and generated with it. Only the last concerns the origin of petroleum.
The genesis of the scalemic distribution of chiral molecules of natural petroleum has recently been shown to be a direct consequence of the chiral geometry of the system particles acting according to the laws of classical thermodynamics. The resolution of the problem of the origin of the scalemic distributions of chiral molecules in natural petroleum has been shown to be an inevitable consequence of their high-pressure genesis.19 Thus, the phenomenon of optical activity in natural petroleum, contrary to supporting any assertion of a biological connection, strongly confirms the high-pressure genesis of natural petroleum, and thereby the modern Russian-Ukrainian theory of deep, abiotic petroleum origins.
5. The carbon isotope ratios, and their inadequacy as indicators of origin.
The claims made concerning the carbon isotope ratios, and specifically such as purport to identify the origin of the material, particularly the hydrocarbons, are especially recondite and outside the experience of most persons not knowledgeable in the physics of hydrogen-carbon [H-C] systems. Furthermore, the claims concerning the carbon isotope ratios most often involve methane, the only hydrocarbon which is thermodynamically stable in the regime of temperatures and pressures of the Earth’s crust, and the only one which spontaneously evolves there.
The carbon nucleus has two stable isotopes, 12C and 13C. The overwhelmingly most abundance stable isotope of carbon is 12C, which possesses six protons and six neutrons; 13C possesses an extra neutron. (There is another, unstable isotope, 14C, which possesses two extra neutrons; 14C results from a high-energy reaction of the nitrogen nucleus, 14N, with a high-energy cosmic ray particle. The isotope 14C is not involved in the claims about the isotope ratios of carbon.) The carbon isotope ratio, designated δ13C, is simply the ratio of the abundance of carbon isotopes 13C/12C, normalized to the standard of the marine carbonate named Pee Dee Belemnite. The values of the measured δ13C ratio is expressed as a percentage (compared to the standard).
During the 1950’s, increasingly numerous measurements of the carbon isotope ratios of hydrocarbon gases were taken, particularly of methane; and too often assertions were made that such ratios could unambiguously determine the origin of the hydrocarbons. The validity of such assertions were tested, independently by Colombo, Gazzarini, and Gonfiantini in Italy and by Galimov in Russia. Both sets of workers established that the carbon isotope ratios cannot be used reliably to determine the origin of the carbon compound tested.
Colombo, Gazzarini, and Gonfiantini demonstrated conclusively, by a simple experiment the results of which admitted no ambiguity, that the carbon isotope ratios of methane change continuously along its transport path, becoming progressively lighter with distance traveled. Colombo et al. took a sample of natural gas and passed it through a column of crushed rock, chosen to resemble as closely as possible the terrestrial environment.27 Their results were definitive: The greater the distance of rock through which the sample of methane passes, the lighter becomes its carbon isotope ratio.
The reason for the result observed by Colombo et al. is straightforward: there is a slight preference for the heavier isotope of carbon to react chemically with the rock through which the gas passes. Therefore, the greater the transit distance through the rock, the lighter becomes the carbon isotope ratio, as the heavier is preferentially removed by chemical reaction along the transport path. This result is not surprising; contrarily, such is entirely consistent with the fundamental requirements of quantum mechanics and kinetic theory.
Pertinent to the matter of any claim that a light carbon isotope ratio might be indicative of a biological origin, the results demonstrated by Colombo et al. establish that such a claim is insupportable. Methane which might have originated from carbon material from the remains of a carbonaceous meteorite in the mantle of the Earth, and possessing initially a heavy carbon isotope ratio, could easily have that ratio diminished, along the path of its transit into the crust of the Earth, to a value comparable to common biological material.
Galimov demonstrated that the carbon isotope ratio of methane can become progressively heavier while at rest in a reservoir in the crust of the Earth, through the action of methane-consuming microbes.28 The city of Moscow stores methane in water-wet reservoirs on the outskirts of that city, into which natural gas is injected throughout the year. During summers, the quantity of methane in the reservoirs increases because of less use (primarily by heating), and during winters the quantity is drawn down. By calibrating the reservoir volumes and the distance from the injection facilities, the residency time of the methane in the reservoir is determined. Galimov established that the longer the methane remains in the reservoir, the heavier becomes its carbon isotope ratio.
The reason for the result observed by Galimov is also straightforward: In the water of the reservoir, there live microbes of the common, methane-metabolizing type. There is a slight preference for the lighter isotope of carbon to enter the microbe cell and to be metabolized. The longer the methane remains in the reservoir, the more of it is consumed by the methane-metabolizing microbes, with the molecules possessing lighter isotope being consumed more. Therefore, the longer its residency time in the reservoir, the heavier becomes the carbon isotope ratio, as the lighter is preferentially removed by methane-metabolizing microbes. This result is entirely consistent with the fundamental requirements of kinetic theory.
Furthermore, the carbon isotope ratios in hydrocarbon systems are also strongly influenced by the temperature of reaction. For hydrocarbons produced by the Fischer-Tropsch process, the δ13C varies from -65% at 127 C to -20% at 177 C.29, 30 No material parameter, the measurement of which varies by almost 70% with a variation of temperature of only approximately 10%, can be used as a reliable determinant of any property of that material.
The δ13C carbon isotope ratio cannot be considered to determine reliably the origin of a sample of methane, - or any other compound.
6. Conclusion.
The claims which have traditionally been put forward to argue a connection between natural petroleum and biological matter have been subjected to scientific scrutiny and have been established to be baseless. The outcome of such scrutiny comes hardly as a surprise, given recognition of the constraints of thermodynamics upon the genesis of hydrocarbons.
If liquid hydrocarbons might evolve from biological detritus in the thermodynamic regime of the crust of the Earth, we could all expect to go to bed at night in our dotage, with white hair (or, at least, whatever might remain of same), a spreading waistline, and all the undesirable decrepitude of age, and to awake in the morning, clear eyed, with our hair returned of the color of our youth, with a slim waistline, a strong, flexible body, and with our sexual vigor restored. Alas, such is not to be. The merciless laws of thermodynamics do not accommodate folklore fables. Natural petroleum has no connection with biological matter.
However, recognition of such fact leaves unanswered the conundrums which eluded the scientific community for more than a century: How does natural petroleum evolve ? And from where does natural petroleum come ?
The theoretical resolution of these questions had to await development of the most modern techniques of quantum statistical mechanics. The experimental demonstration of the required equipment has been only recently available.
With recognition that the laws of thermodynamics prohibit spontaneous evolution of liquid hydrocarbons in the regime of temperature and pressure characteristic of the crust of the Earth, one should not expect there to exist legitimate scientific evidence that might suggest that such could occur. Indeed, and correctly, there exists no such evidence.
Nonetheless, and surprisingly, there continue to be often promulgated diverse claims purporting to constitute “evidence” that natural petroleum somehow evolves (miraculously) from biological matter. In this short article, such claims are briefly subjected to scientific scrutiny, demonstrated to be without merit, and dismissed.
The claims which purport to argue for some connection between natural petroleum and biological matter fall into roughly two classes: the “look-like/come-from” claims; and the “similar(recondite)-properties/come-from” claims.
The “look-like/come-from” claims apply a line of unreason exactly as designated: Such argue that, because certain molecules found in natural petroleum “look like” certain other molecules found in biological systems, then the former must “come-from” the latter. Such notion is, of course, equivalent to asserting that elephant tusks evolve because those animals must eat piano keys.
In some instances, the “look-like/come-from” claims assert that certain molecules found in natural petroleum actually are biological molecules, and evolve only in biological systems. These molecules have often been given the spurious name “biomarkers.”
The scientific correction must be stated unequivocally: There have never been observed any specifically biological molecules in natural petroleum, except as contaminants. Petroleum is an excellent solvent for carbon compounds; and, in the sedimentary strata from which petroleum is often produced, natural petroleum takes into solution much carbon material, including biological detritus. However, such contaminants are unrelated to the petroleum solvent.
The claims about “biomarkers” have been thoroughly discredited by observations of those molecules in the interiors of ancient, abiotic meteorites, and also in many cases by laboratory synthesis under imposed conditions mimicking the natural environment. In the discussion below, the claims put forth about porphyrin and isoprenoid molecules are addressed particularly, because many “look-like/come-from” claims have been put forth for those compounds.
The “similar(recondite)-properties/come-from” claims involve diverse, odd phenomena with which persons not working directly in a scientific profession would be unfamiliar. These include the “odd-even abundance imbalance” claims, the “carbon isotope” claims, and the “optical-activity” claims. The first, the “odd-even abundance imbalance” claims, are demonstrated to be utterly unrelated to any biological property. The second, “carbon isotope” claims, are shown to depend upon measurement of an obscure property of carbon fluids which cannot reliably be considered a measure of origin. The third, the “optical-activity” claims, deserve particular note; for the observations of optical activity in natural petroleum have been trumpeted loudly for years as a “proof” of some “biological origin” of petroleum. Those claims have been thoroughly discredited decades ago by observation of optical activity in the petroleum material extracted from the interiors of carbonaceous meteorites. More significantly, recent analysis, which has resolved the previously-outstanding problem of the genesis of optical activity in abiotic fluids, has established that the phenomenon of optical activity is an inevitable thermodynamic consequence of the phase stability of multicomponent fluids at high pressures. Thereby, the observation of optical activity in natural petroleum is entirely consistent with the results of the thermodynamic analysis of the stability of the hydrogen-carbon [H-C] system, which establish that hydrocarbon molecules heavier than methane, and particularly liquid hydrocarbons, evolve spontaneously only at high pressures, comparable to those necessary for diamond formation.
There are two subjects which are particularly relevant for destroying the diverse, spurious claims concerning a putative connection of petroleum and biological matter: the investigations of the carbon material from carbonaceous meteorites; and the reaction products of the Fischer-Tropsch process. Because of their importance, a brief discussion of both is in order.
1.1 The carbonaceous meteorites.
The carbonaceous meteorites, including particularly the carbonaceous chondrites, are meteorites whose chemical composition includes carbon in quantities ranging from a few tenths of a percent to approximately six percent, by mass.1-5 The age of the carbonaceous meteorites is typically 3-4.5 billion years; and their origins clearly abiotic. The mineral structures in these rocks establish that the carbonaceous meteorites have existed at very low temperatures, much below the freezing point of water, effectively since the time of their original formation. Such thermal history of the carbonaceous meteorites eliminates any probability that there ever existed on them life, or biological matter.6 The evidence obtained from scientific investigations of the carbon material in carbonaceous meteorites has destroyed many claims which assert a biological connection between natural petroleum and biological matter.
Significantly, much of the carbon material of the carbonaceous meteorites consists of hydrocarbons, as both solids and in liquid form.1, 5, 7, 8 However, the petroleum material contained in carbonaceous meteorites cannot be considered to be the origin of the natural petroleum found in the near-surface crust of the Earth. The heating which inevitably accompanied the impact process during the accretion of meteorites into the Earth at the time of its formation would almost certainly have caused decomposition of most of their contained hydrocarbon molecules. The carbonaceous meteorites provided the Earth with its carbon (albeit much of it delivered in the form of hydrocarbons) but not its hydrocarbons or natural petroleum. (The processes by which hydrocarbons evolve from the native materials of the Earth are described, and demonstrated, in the following article.)
1.2 The Fischer-Tropsch process.
The Fischer-Tropsch process is the best-known industrial technique for the synthesis of hydrocarbons, and has been used for more than seventy-five years. The Fischer-Tropsch process reacts carbon monoxide and hydrogen at synthesis conditions of approximately 150 bar and 700 K, in the presence of ThO2, MgO, Al2O3, MnO, clays, and the catalysts Ni, Co, and Fe. The reactions are as follow:
When a Ni-Co catalyst is used, the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis proceeds according to the reaction:
When a Fe catalyst is used, the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis proceeds according to the reaction:
The yield of the Fischer-Tropsch process is approximately 200 g of hydrocarbons from 1 m3 of CO and H2 mixture. During World War II, the production of liquid fuels by the Fischer-Tropsch process was used extensively in Germany; approximately 600,000 t of synthetic gasoline were synthesized in 1943.
The reaction products of the Fischer-Tropsch process are only metastable in the thermodynamic conditions of their synthesis; at pressures of approximately only 150 bar and 700 K, the destruction of liquid hydrocarbons is inevitable. During the industrial Fischer-Tropsch process, the reaction products are promptly cooled and moved to conditions of lower pressure. The natural environment does not mimic the highly-controlled, and highly-regulated, industrial, Fischer-Tropsch process. The Fischer-Tropsch process cannot be considered for the generation of natural petroleum.
2. The specious “biomarker” claims: The irrelevancy of the presence in petroleum of porphyrins, - and similarly of isoprenoids, pristane, phytane, clorins, terpines, cholestane, etc.
One may read, in almost every textbook published in the English language purporting to deal with the subject of petroleum geology, diverse claims made that the presence of certain molecules found in natural petroleum constitute “evidence,” or even “proof,” that the petroleum evolved from biological matter. Such molecules, claimed as evidence of a biological connection, include such as porphyrins, isoprenoids, pristane, phytane, cholestane, terpines, and clorins. Closer investigations have proven such claims to be groundless. Pristane and phytane are simply branched alkanes of the isoprenoid class. Cholestane, C27H48, is a true, highly-reduced hydrocarbon, but is not to be confused with the oxidized, biotic, molecule cholesterol. Cholestane and cholesterol have similar geometric structures, and share similar carbon skeletons; there the similarity ends. Cholestane is a constituent of natural petroleum; cholesterol is not. Significantly, the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis produces isoprenoids, including phytane and pristine.
Material of truly biogenic origin, such as fossil spores or pollen, is indeed often observed in petroleum, - and too often mislabeled as “biomarkers,” supposedly indicating a connection between the natural petroleum and biological material. Careful investigation has established that such material has been leached into solution by the crude oil from buried organic matter in the (typically sedimentary) reservoir rocks from which the oil has been taken.9, 10
Contrarily, the indisputably biological material, such as spores and pollen, found in petroleum can be considered as “abiomarkers” of petroleum origin. For examples, crude oil found in reservoir rocks of the Permian age always contain not only spores and pollen of the Permian age but also spores and pollen of older ages, such as, for example, the Carboniferous, Devonian and Precambrian in petroleum investigated in Tatarstan, Russia. In the same region and in other portions of the Volga-Urals geological province, crude oils in the Carbonaceous sediments are characterized with concentrations of spores of Carbonaceous-through-Precambrian ages, and crudes in the Devonian sandstones with spores of Devonian-through-Precambrian ages.9, 11
The types of porphyrins, isoprenoids, terpines, and clorins found in natural petroleum have been observed in material extracted from the interiors of no fewer than fifty-four meteorites, including amphoteric meteorites (Chainpur, Ngavi, Semarkona), bronze chondrites (Charis, Ghubara, Kulp, Tieschitz), carbonaceous chondrites of all four petrological classes (Alais, Bali, Bells, Cold Bockeveld, Eracot, Felix, Groznaia, Haripura, Ivuna, Kaba, Kainsaz, Karoonda, Lance, Mighei, Mokoia, Murchison, Murrey, Orgueil, Ornans, Pseudo, Renazzo, Santa Cruz, St.Capraix, Staroye Boriskino, Tonk, Vigarano, Warrenton), enstatite meteorites (Abee, Hvittis, Indarkh), hypersthene chondrites (Bishunpur, Bruderheim, Gallingebirge, Holbrook, Homestead, Krymka), iron meteorites (Arus (Yardymli), Burgavli, Canyon Diabolo, Odessa, Toluca), aubrite meteorites (Norton County), and ureilite meteorites (Dyalpur, Goalpara, Novo Urei).9, 12, 13
The observations of such molecules in meteorites thoroughly discredited the claims that their presence in natural petroleum might somehow constitute evidence of a biological connection. Because especially strenuous (and especially erroneous) claims are often made particularly about the porphyrins observed in natural petroleum, those molecules will be discussed in modest detail.
Porphyrins comprise a class of molecules designated cyclic ionopheres, a special class of polydentate ligands for metals. Porphyrins are heavy, approximately planar, chelating molecules, found in both biotic and abiotic systems. Several porphyrin molecules are of special biological significance: vitamin B12; chlorophyll, the porphyrin which is the agent of the photosynthesis process in plants; and the heme molecule, the porphyrin component of the protein hemoglobin which is responsible for the transport of oxygen in mammalian blood. As an example of the high molecular weight of porphyrins, hemoglobin has the empirical chemical formula, [C738H1166O208N203S2Fe]4. Neither vitamin B12, nor chlorophyll, nor heme (nor hemoglobin), nor any biotic porphyrin has ever been observed as a component of natural petroleum.
The porphyrin molecules found in natural petroleum possess different side-groups than do those of chlorophyll or heme. The central chelated metal element in chlorophyll is always magnesium; in heme, it is iron. In porphyrin molecules found in natural petroleum, the central chelated metal element is typically vanadium or nickel.
As stated, porphyrin molecules evolve both biologically and abiologically. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, porphyrin molecules, which are the same as those found in terrestrial natural petroleum, were observed in the hydrocarbon fluids extracted from the interiors of carbonaceous meteorites.
The observations of petroleum-type porphyrins in the hydrocarbon fluids extracted from the interiors of carbonaceous meteorites destroyed, a fortiori, the claims that such molecules constitute “evidence” for a connection of petroleum with biological matter. Additionally, after the observations of porphyrins in carbonaceous meteorites, those petroleum-type porphyrins were synthesized abiologically in the laboratory under chemical and thermodynamic conditions specially set to mimic the abiotic conditions in meteorites.8, 14
The “porphyrin evidence” claims were destroyed by the investigations of carbonaceous meteorites approximately thirty years ago, and are well known throughout the community of scientists working in the field of petroleum. Every compound designated as a “biomarker,” and not otherwise identified as a contaminant, has been either observed in the fluids extracted from the interiors of meteorites, or synthesized in laboratories under conditions comparable to the crust of the Earth, - or both.
Such scientific facts, and the general knowledge of same, not withstanding, every textbook published in the English language purportedly dealing with the subject of petroleum geology, including the ones cited above, continues to repeat the old discredited claims that the presence of (abiotic) porphyrins in natural petroleum provide evidence for its origin from biological matter.15-17 Such assertions, thirty years after having been demonstrated scientifically insupportable, must be acknowledged to be intellectual fraud, pure and simple.
3. The “odd-even” abundance claims, - involving the small imbalance of the relative abundances of linear hydrocarbon molecules containing an odd number of carbon atoms, compared to homologous ones containing an even number.
The claims concerning the imbalance of linear molecules containing odd and even numbers, respectively, of carbon atoms is another of the genre of “the constituents of natural petroleum ‘have the same properties as’ the constituents of biological systems, in such-or-so a way, and therefore petroleum must have evolved from biological matter.” No intelligent teenage student at, for examples, a Russian, German, Dutch, or Swiss gymnasium, would accept such reasoning. Nonetheless, such claims are commonly put forth in English-language textbooks purporting to deal with petroleum geology. Such claims are herewith shown to be without merit and insupportable.
Fig. 1 Symbolic representation of a molecule of normal octane, n-C8H18.
Natural petroleum is a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules of several classes. The most common class of molecules in petroleum is that of the normal alkanes, or n-alkanes, which have the chemical formula CnH2n+2 and a chain-like structure (as noted in the first article). For example, n-octane, C8H18, has the structure shown schematically in Fig. 1. Correctly, the carbon atoms do not lie exactly along a straight line; a picture of n-octane which more accurately represents its geometric properties is shown in Fig. 2, where n-C8H18 is drawn as a “stick-&-ball” model. Nonetheless, in both figures, the linear chain-like aspect of the n-alkane molecule is shown clearly.
Similarly as for cyclohexane as described in the first article, the hydrocarbon n-C8H18 is geometrically related to one or more biological molecules by substitution of some of the hydrogen atoms by OH radicals. Specifically, if one of the hydrogen atoms on each carbon atom in n-C8H18 were replaced by an OH radical, the resulting molecule, n-C8H18O8, would be a carbohydrate, as shown in Fig. 3, a simple sugar related to fructose (and whose chemical potential is approximately 2,500 cal lower than that of n-octane).
In a distribution of linear hydrocarbon molecules which comprise natural petroleum, the chain-like n-alkanes manifest a slight imbalance of abundances which favors molecules possessing an odd number of carbon atoms, as compared to those with an even number. Similarly, a distribution of linear biological molecules, such as the chain-like carbohydrates, manifests also a similar slight imbalance of molecules possessing an odd number of carbon atoms, again as compared to those with an even number. From this modest, and somewhat arcane, similarity of odd-to-even abundances, assertions have been made that hydrocarbons evolve from biological matter. Of course, the second law of thermodynamics prohibits such, which fact should obviate any such assertion.
Simple investigation of hydrocarbons generated from abiotic matter manifest also such odd-to-even imbalance of molecular abundances for the linear molecules. The reaction products of the Fischer-Tropsch process manifest the same odd-to-even abundance imbalances of linear molecules as do both natural petroleum, as well as biological molecules.
A specific example of the inevitable genesis of hydrocarbon molecules which manifest such odd-to-even abundance imbalances of linear molecules was demonstrated by Zemanian, Streett, and Zollweg more than fifteen years ago. Zemanian et al. demonstrated the genesis of heavy and liquid hydrocarbons at high pressures and temperatures from a mixture of methane and propane. Particularly, Zemanian et al. measured the relative abundances of the linear chain hydrocarbon molecules. Their observations, of the imbalance of abundances, and slight excess, of chain molecules with odd numbers of carbon atoms are quoted here (pp. 63-64):18
“These results are also notable when one considers the even-to-odd carbon number ratio of petroleum.
One of the arguments for a biological origin of petroleum has been that these fluids generally show a small marked prevalence of odd numbered hydrocarbons. It is also well known that living organisms produce primarily odd numbered carbon [or carbohydrate] chains. Abiological processes have been presumed to produce even and odd numbered hydrocarbons in roughly equal concentrations. The results of this work demonstrate that presumption to be false. Both biological and abiological hydrocarbon chemistries favor reactions involving two carbons over single carbon reactions [leading to preferred reactants of odd-numbered chain molecules].”
It deserves note that the “odd-even abundance-imbalance” claim, as “evidence”[sic] of a biological origin of hydrocarbon molecules, was rejected by competent physicists and statistical mechanicians, almost immediately when it was introduced. The odd-even abundance imbalance is simply a result of the directional property of the covalent bond together with the geometry of linear molecules.
4. The phenomenon of optical activity in natural petroleum: Evidence of an abiotic, high-pressure genesis.
Perhaps for reason of its historical provenance in fermented wine, the phenomenon of optical activity in fluids was for some time believed to have some intrinsic connection with biological processes or materials.20, 21 Such error persisted until the phenomenon of optical activity was observed in material extracted from the interiors of meteorites; some of which material had been believed previously to be uniquely of biotic origin.
From the interiors of carbonaceous meteorites have been extracted the common amino-acid molecules alanine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, leusine, proline, serine, threonine, as well as the unusual ones α-aminoisobutyric acid, isovaline, pseudoleucine.22-24 At one time, all had been considered to be solely of biotic origin. The ages of the carbonaceous meteorites were determined to be 3-4.5 billion years, and their origins clearly abiotic. Therefore, those amino acids had to be recognized as compounds of both biological and abiological genesis. Furthermore, solutions of amino acid molecules from carbonaceous meteorites were observed to manifest optical activity. Thus was thoroughly discredited the notion that the phenomenon of optical activity in fluids (particularly those of carbon compounds) might have any intrinsic connection with biotic matter. Significantly, the optical activity observed in the amino acids extracted from carbonaceous meteorites has not the characteristics of such of common biotic origin, with only one enantiomer present; instead, it manifests the characteristics observed in natural petroleum, with unbalanced, so-called scalemic, abundances of chiral molecules.25
The optical activity commonly observed in natural petroleum has been for years speciously claimed as “proof” of some connection with biological detritus, - albeit one requiring both a willing disregard of the considerable differences between the optical activity observed in natural petroleum and that in materials of truly biotic origin, such as wine, as well as desuetude of the dictates of the laws of thermodynamics.
Optical activity is observed in minerals such as quartz or Iceland spar, as well as in oil, and among biological molecules. The optical activity observed in petroleum is more characteristic of the same in abiotic minerals, such as naturally occurring quartz, which are polycrystalline minerals, with a scalemic distribution of domains of left- and right-rotational properties. The chiral molecules in petroleum manifest scalemic distributions, and significantly lack the homochiral distribution which characterize biotic optically active matter. The optical activity in natural petroleum is characterized by either a right (positive, or dextrorotary) or left (negative, or levorotary) rotation of the plane of polarization. By contrast, in biological material left (levorotary) rotation dominates.
The observation of optical activity in hydrocarbon material extracted from the interiors of carbonaceous meteorites, and typical of such in natural petroleum, discredited those claims.2, 26 Nonetheless, the scientific conundrum as to why the hydrocarbons manifest optical activity, in both carbonaceous meteorites and terrestrial crude oil remained unresolved until recently.
The chiral molecules in natural petroleum originate from three distinct sources: contamination by biological detritus in the near-surface strata from which the oil has been taken; the biological alteration and degradation of the original oil by microbes which consume and metabolize oil; and the chiral hydrocarbon molecules which are intrinsic to the petroleum and generated with it. Only the last concerns the origin of petroleum.
The genesis of the scalemic distribution of chiral molecules of natural petroleum has recently been shown to be a direct consequence of the chiral geometry of the system particles acting according to the laws of classical thermodynamics. The resolution of the problem of the origin of the scalemic distributions of chiral molecules in natural petroleum has been shown to be an inevitable consequence of their high-pressure genesis.19 Thus, the phenomenon of optical activity in natural petroleum, contrary to supporting any assertion of a biological connection, strongly confirms the high-pressure genesis of natural petroleum, and thereby the modern Russian-Ukrainian theory of deep, abiotic petroleum origins.
5. The carbon isotope ratios, and their inadequacy as indicators of origin.
The claims made concerning the carbon isotope ratios, and specifically such as purport to identify the origin of the material, particularly the hydrocarbons, are especially recondite and outside the experience of most persons not knowledgeable in the physics of hydrogen-carbon [H-C] systems. Furthermore, the claims concerning the carbon isotope ratios most often involve methane, the only hydrocarbon which is thermodynamically stable in the regime of temperatures and pressures of the Earth’s crust, and the only one which spontaneously evolves there.
The carbon nucleus has two stable isotopes, 12C and 13C. The overwhelmingly most abundance stable isotope of carbon is 12C, which possesses six protons and six neutrons; 13C possesses an extra neutron. (There is another, unstable isotope, 14C, which possesses two extra neutrons; 14C results from a high-energy reaction of the nitrogen nucleus, 14N, with a high-energy cosmic ray particle. The isotope 14C is not involved in the claims about the isotope ratios of carbon.) The carbon isotope ratio, designated δ13C, is simply the ratio of the abundance of carbon isotopes 13C/12C, normalized to the standard of the marine carbonate named Pee Dee Belemnite. The values of the measured δ13C ratio is expressed as a percentage (compared to the standard).
During the 1950’s, increasingly numerous measurements of the carbon isotope ratios of hydrocarbon gases were taken, particularly of methane; and too often assertions were made that such ratios could unambiguously determine the origin of the hydrocarbons. The validity of such assertions were tested, independently by Colombo, Gazzarini, and Gonfiantini in Italy and by Galimov in Russia. Both sets of workers established that the carbon isotope ratios cannot be used reliably to determine the origin of the carbon compound tested.
Colombo, Gazzarini, and Gonfiantini demonstrated conclusively, by a simple experiment the results of which admitted no ambiguity, that the carbon isotope ratios of methane change continuously along its transport path, becoming progressively lighter with distance traveled. Colombo et al. took a sample of natural gas and passed it through a column of crushed rock, chosen to resemble as closely as possible the terrestrial environment.27 Their results were definitive: The greater the distance of rock through which the sample of methane passes, the lighter becomes its carbon isotope ratio.
The reason for the result observed by Colombo et al. is straightforward: there is a slight preference for the heavier isotope of carbon to react chemically with the rock through which the gas passes. Therefore, the greater the transit distance through the rock, the lighter becomes the carbon isotope ratio, as the heavier is preferentially removed by chemical reaction along the transport path. This result is not surprising; contrarily, such is entirely consistent with the fundamental requirements of quantum mechanics and kinetic theory.
Pertinent to the matter of any claim that a light carbon isotope ratio might be indicative of a biological origin, the results demonstrated by Colombo et al. establish that such a claim is insupportable. Methane which might have originated from carbon material from the remains of a carbonaceous meteorite in the mantle of the Earth, and possessing initially a heavy carbon isotope ratio, could easily have that ratio diminished, along the path of its transit into the crust of the Earth, to a value comparable to common biological material.
Galimov demonstrated that the carbon isotope ratio of methane can become progressively heavier while at rest in a reservoir in the crust of the Earth, through the action of methane-consuming microbes.28 The city of Moscow stores methane in water-wet reservoirs on the outskirts of that city, into which natural gas is injected throughout the year. During summers, the quantity of methane in the reservoirs increases because of less use (primarily by heating), and during winters the quantity is drawn down. By calibrating the reservoir volumes and the distance from the injection facilities, the residency time of the methane in the reservoir is determined. Galimov established that the longer the methane remains in the reservoir, the heavier becomes its carbon isotope ratio.
The reason for the result observed by Galimov is also straightforward: In the water of the reservoir, there live microbes of the common, methane-metabolizing type. There is a slight preference for the lighter isotope of carbon to enter the microbe cell and to be metabolized. The longer the methane remains in the reservoir, the more of it is consumed by the methane-metabolizing microbes, with the molecules possessing lighter isotope being consumed more. Therefore, the longer its residency time in the reservoir, the heavier becomes the carbon isotope ratio, as the lighter is preferentially removed by methane-metabolizing microbes. This result is entirely consistent with the fundamental requirements of kinetic theory.
Furthermore, the carbon isotope ratios in hydrocarbon systems are also strongly influenced by the temperature of reaction. For hydrocarbons produced by the Fischer-Tropsch process, the δ13C varies from -65% at 127 C to -20% at 177 C.29, 30 No material parameter, the measurement of which varies by almost 70% with a variation of temperature of only approximately 10%, can be used as a reliable determinant of any property of that material.
The δ13C carbon isotope ratio cannot be considered to determine reliably the origin of a sample of methane, - or any other compound.
6. Conclusion.
The claims which have traditionally been put forward to argue a connection between natural petroleum and biological matter have been subjected to scientific scrutiny and have been established to be baseless. The outcome of such scrutiny comes hardly as a surprise, given recognition of the constraints of thermodynamics upon the genesis of hydrocarbons.
If liquid hydrocarbons might evolve from biological detritus in the thermodynamic regime of the crust of the Earth, we could all expect to go to bed at night in our dotage, with white hair (or, at least, whatever might remain of same), a spreading waistline, and all the undesirable decrepitude of age, and to awake in the morning, clear eyed, with our hair returned of the color of our youth, with a slim waistline, a strong, flexible body, and with our sexual vigor restored. Alas, such is not to be. The merciless laws of thermodynamics do not accommodate folklore fables. Natural petroleum has no connection with biological matter.
However, recognition of such fact leaves unanswered the conundrums which eluded the scientific community for more than a century: How does natural petroleum evolve ? And from where does natural petroleum come ?
The theoretical resolution of these questions had to await development of the most modern techniques of quantum statistical mechanics. The experimental demonstration of the required equipment has been only recently available.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Petroleum in a Nutshell...........(A Geology Description)
Petroleum (that is, oil and gas) is so ordinary that it takes an effort to see what an unlikely and marvelous substance it is: raw liquid oil and high-quality flammable gas, pumped in enormous quantities right out of the ground. Only a few generations ago, oil for all uses—fuel, lubrication, nutrition, medicine—was pressed from plant crops or rendered from animal fat. Gas was manufactured from coal. And the geologic resource was almost totally hidden.
Natural seeps of crude oil are not especially rare. But the oil leaking from the ground is usually a highly degraded substance, close to tar. It was at first used locally as a substitute for pitch or as a crude medicine. When drillers learned to tap petroleum at depth starting in 1859, its virtues began to be discovered, and over the next century oil transformed civilization. Natural gas came into prominence at the same time.
How Petroleum Forms
Geologists have learned a lot about petroleum, but we still don't know in complete detail how it forms. Clearly it is derived from the remains of living things, just as coal is. But before dead organic matter becomes petroleum or coal it exists as a material called kerogen. With time in the ground, kerogen matures into an assortment of hydrocarbon molecules of all sizes and weights. The lightest (smallest) hydrocarbon molecules waft away as natural gas, and the heavier (larger) ones make up an oily liquid.
Let's look closer. Petroleum source rocks form at sea, from mud that washes offshore (forming shale) or from limestones. A thick rain of dead planktonic algae adds organic remains to this sediment. (On land, woody plant matter predominates and becomes coal.) In both settings, the mixture is buried under conditions of no oxygen. Only a few percent of the world's dead organic matter is preserved this way.
Under these anaerobic conditions underground, the kerogen is transformed into a flammable substance called bitumen. Certainly heat (up to about 150° C) is part of this process; so is the action of anaerobic microbes in the sediment and natural catalysts. One recent theory, not widely favored, holds that methane gas rising from deeper in the Earth joins this material.
Most of the bitumen is eventually cooked into tarry asphalt, releasing hydrocarbon molecules (as well as water and carbon dioxide) out of the source rock as it heats. Heavy oils form first, then light oils. Once temperatures reach about 100° C, source rocks produce mostly gas. Being lighter than rocks, petroleum tends to rise upward through fractures and the pores of coarse sandstone beds.
A small fraction of that leakage, perhaps 2 percent, is preserved in large pools wherever layers of impermeable rock like shale or limestone put a tight lid on top of it. In a nutshell, that's the basis of prospecting for oil: locating (1) source rocks, (2) migration pathways and (3) stratigraphic traps.
Petroleum Reservoirs
The conventional petroleum reservoir is in a stratigraphic trap—a dome or vault of impermeable rock, formed by folding or faulting of the rock layers or by the rise of salt domes, with permeable rocks beneath it. In those permeable rocks there may be a layer of natural gas on top, with petroleum below. Beneath the oil is usually a layer of rock soaked with water or brine. There are also other unconventional types of reservoirs that are not trapped this way.
The key to a reservoir is sponge-like rock with open space between its grains—porosity. The porosity may have existed from the rock's original sediment; it might also arise as groundwater dissolves pores in the rock or as minerals undergo alteration. One major source of porosity is the transformation of calcite to dolomite, which takes up less space, by fluids rich in magnesium.
Besides porosity, there must be high permeability—the connectedness of pores that allows fluid to move easily through the reservoir rock. Permeability, porosity and geologic structure are all of great interest to petroleum geologists.
Reservoirs may come to be under excessive pressure due to tectonic forces. Modern equipment and practices can handle this pressure, but in the past drilling sometimes produced gushers.
Petroleum Production
Producing oil is an intricate art. Oil can be pumped out of the sponge at a certain maximum rate, determined by the viscosity of the oil and the quality of the reservoir. Oil production must be managed carefully to avoid clogging or collapsing the pores, which can prevent a well from accessing much of the reservoir. Pumping too fast, pumping too slowly or interrupting production can all damage an oilfield. It means that more wells must be drilled to fully exploit the reservoir, raising the expense of production.
Drilling curved and horizontal wells into reservoirs is a common technique to increase production. Another involves fracturing the reservoir rock by pumping fluids and sand into it under high pressure. The fluids open cracks, and the sand keeps them open to let out the petroleum. This can overcome low permeability. Treating the wellbore with various acids or solvents can also raise permeability.
Oil Chemistry and Classification
Petroleum is called a fossil fuel, but it has no fossils in it. There are what you might call chemical fossils—for instance biological chemicals that did not evolve until recently have been found in young oils—but any actual fossil organisms occur only in the youngest kerogen. Oil and gas thus are purified, transformed products of countless dead organisms from past ages. You might consider petroleum a sort of geologic compost.
Crude oil mostly consists of a large set of liquid and solid hydrocarbons ranging from pentane (C5H12) to the heaviest long-chain alkanes that make up asphalt. The lightest alkanes (methane, ethane, propane and butane) make up natural gas. Refiners sort out and purify these compounds to produce fuels, lubricants and tars. (more about alkanes from About Chemistry)
Crude oil is classified as light, medium or heavy according to its viscosity. It is also called sweet if it has little sulfur in it, or sour if it has a lot. Light sweet crude is the most desirable because it is easiest to process into fuel and chemical feedstocks.
Natural seeps of crude oil are not especially rare. But the oil leaking from the ground is usually a highly degraded substance, close to tar. It was at first used locally as a substitute for pitch or as a crude medicine. When drillers learned to tap petroleum at depth starting in 1859, its virtues began to be discovered, and over the next century oil transformed civilization. Natural gas came into prominence at the same time.
How Petroleum Forms
Geologists have learned a lot about petroleum, but we still don't know in complete detail how it forms. Clearly it is derived from the remains of living things, just as coal is. But before dead organic matter becomes petroleum or coal it exists as a material called kerogen. With time in the ground, kerogen matures into an assortment of hydrocarbon molecules of all sizes and weights. The lightest (smallest) hydrocarbon molecules waft away as natural gas, and the heavier (larger) ones make up an oily liquid.
Let's look closer. Petroleum source rocks form at sea, from mud that washes offshore (forming shale) or from limestones. A thick rain of dead planktonic algae adds organic remains to this sediment. (On land, woody plant matter predominates and becomes coal.) In both settings, the mixture is buried under conditions of no oxygen. Only a few percent of the world's dead organic matter is preserved this way.
Under these anaerobic conditions underground, the kerogen is transformed into a flammable substance called bitumen. Certainly heat (up to about 150° C) is part of this process; so is the action of anaerobic microbes in the sediment and natural catalysts. One recent theory, not widely favored, holds that methane gas rising from deeper in the Earth joins this material.
Most of the bitumen is eventually cooked into tarry asphalt, releasing hydrocarbon molecules (as well as water and carbon dioxide) out of the source rock as it heats. Heavy oils form first, then light oils. Once temperatures reach about 100° C, source rocks produce mostly gas. Being lighter than rocks, petroleum tends to rise upward through fractures and the pores of coarse sandstone beds.
A small fraction of that leakage, perhaps 2 percent, is preserved in large pools wherever layers of impermeable rock like shale or limestone put a tight lid on top of it. In a nutshell, that's the basis of prospecting for oil: locating (1) source rocks, (2) migration pathways and (3) stratigraphic traps.
Petroleum Reservoirs
The conventional petroleum reservoir is in a stratigraphic trap—a dome or vault of impermeable rock, formed by folding or faulting of the rock layers or by the rise of salt domes, with permeable rocks beneath it. In those permeable rocks there may be a layer of natural gas on top, with petroleum below. Beneath the oil is usually a layer of rock soaked with water or brine. There are also other unconventional types of reservoirs that are not trapped this way.
The key to a reservoir is sponge-like rock with open space between its grains—porosity. The porosity may have existed from the rock's original sediment; it might also arise as groundwater dissolves pores in the rock or as minerals undergo alteration. One major source of porosity is the transformation of calcite to dolomite, which takes up less space, by fluids rich in magnesium.
Besides porosity, there must be high permeability—the connectedness of pores that allows fluid to move easily through the reservoir rock. Permeability, porosity and geologic structure are all of great interest to petroleum geologists.
Reservoirs may come to be under excessive pressure due to tectonic forces. Modern equipment and practices can handle this pressure, but in the past drilling sometimes produced gushers.
Petroleum Production
Producing oil is an intricate art. Oil can be pumped out of the sponge at a certain maximum rate, determined by the viscosity of the oil and the quality of the reservoir. Oil production must be managed carefully to avoid clogging or collapsing the pores, which can prevent a well from accessing much of the reservoir. Pumping too fast, pumping too slowly or interrupting production can all damage an oilfield. It means that more wells must be drilled to fully exploit the reservoir, raising the expense of production.
Drilling curved and horizontal wells into reservoirs is a common technique to increase production. Another involves fracturing the reservoir rock by pumping fluids and sand into it under high pressure. The fluids open cracks, and the sand keeps them open to let out the petroleum. This can overcome low permeability. Treating the wellbore with various acids or solvents can also raise permeability.
Oil Chemistry and Classification
Petroleum is called a fossil fuel, but it has no fossils in it. There are what you might call chemical fossils—for instance biological chemicals that did not evolve until recently have been found in young oils—but any actual fossil organisms occur only in the youngest kerogen. Oil and gas thus are purified, transformed products of countless dead organisms from past ages. You might consider petroleum a sort of geologic compost.
Crude oil mostly consists of a large set of liquid and solid hydrocarbons ranging from pentane (C5H12) to the heaviest long-chain alkanes that make up asphalt. The lightest alkanes (methane, ethane, propane and butane) make up natural gas. Refiners sort out and purify these compounds to produce fuels, lubricants and tars. (more about alkanes from About Chemistry)
Crude oil is classified as light, medium or heavy according to its viscosity. It is also called sweet if it has little sulfur in it, or sour if it has a lot. Light sweet crude is the most desirable because it is easiest to process into fuel and chemical feedstocks.
Large oil reserves found ....
Three years of exploration has enabled Pemex to map oilfields that the state-owned oil monopoly believes will more than double the nation's known crude oil reserves.
Luis Ramírez Corzo, Pemex's director for exploration, told EL UNIVERSAL that on a "conservative" estimate, almost 54 billion barrels lie underneath the oilfields. That would take Mexico's reserves to 102 billion barrels, more than the United Arab Emirates (which has reserves of 97.8 billion barrels), Kuwait (94 billion) and Iran (89.7 billion), and almost as much as Iraq (112.5 billion).
The official also said the discovery could enable Pemex to increase Mexico's oil production from the current level of 4 million barrels per day (bpd) to 7 million bpd.
Saudi Arabia currently produces 7.5 million bpd, while Russia's oil output is 7.4 million bpd.
Ramírez Corzo said the exploration, at an investment of US4.6 billion, led to the identification of seven separate blocks rich in oil and natural gas. The most promising blocks are under water in the Gulf of Mexico, thought to contain around 45 billion barrels.
"That's the good news," Ramírez Corzo said. "The bad is that owing to the complexity of the technology needed to exploit the oilfields and the levels of investment required, (Pemex) can't go it alone."
He said Pemex will prepare special "alliance contracts" to attract the involvement of multi-national corporations with capital to invest and the most up-to-date deep sea oil extraction technology.
Similar "multiple service contracts," which Pemex has used to attract foreign capital to extract natural gas from the northern Burgos Basin, have met with legal challenges by opposition lawmakers. Under Mexico's Constitution, exploration and exploitation of the nation's energy resources is the exclusive preserve of the state.
The contracts would maintain Mexican ownership of the oil while allowing the multi-nationals a return on their investment to extract the resources from under the sea, Ramírez Corzo said
Luis Ramírez Corzo, Pemex's director for exploration, told EL UNIVERSAL that on a "conservative" estimate, almost 54 billion barrels lie underneath the oilfields. That would take Mexico's reserves to 102 billion barrels, more than the United Arab Emirates (which has reserves of 97.8 billion barrels), Kuwait (94 billion) and Iran (89.7 billion), and almost as much as Iraq (112.5 billion).
The official also said the discovery could enable Pemex to increase Mexico's oil production from the current level of 4 million barrels per day (bpd) to 7 million bpd.
Saudi Arabia currently produces 7.5 million bpd, while Russia's oil output is 7.4 million bpd.
Ramírez Corzo said the exploration, at an investment of US4.6 billion, led to the identification of seven separate blocks rich in oil and natural gas. The most promising blocks are under water in the Gulf of Mexico, thought to contain around 45 billion barrels.
"That's the good news," Ramírez Corzo said. "The bad is that owing to the complexity of the technology needed to exploit the oilfields and the levels of investment required, (Pemex) can't go it alone."
He said Pemex will prepare special "alliance contracts" to attract the involvement of multi-national corporations with capital to invest and the most up-to-date deep sea oil extraction technology.
Similar "multiple service contracts," which Pemex has used to attract foreign capital to extract natural gas from the northern Burgos Basin, have met with legal challenges by opposition lawmakers. Under Mexico's Constitution, exploration and exploitation of the nation's energy resources is the exclusive preserve of the state.
The contracts would maintain Mexican ownership of the oil while allowing the multi-nationals a return on their investment to extract the resources from under the sea, Ramírez Corzo said
Saudi Oil Is Secure and Plentiful....
Saudi Arabia’s oil industry and the international petroleum organizations shocked a gathering of foreign policy experts in Washington yesterday with an announcement that the Kingdom’s previous estimate of 261 billion barrels of recoverable petroleum has now more than tripled, to 1.2 trillion barrels.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia’s key oil and finance ministers assured the audience — which included US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan — that the Kingdom has the capability to quickly double its oil output and sustain such a production surge for as long as 50 years.
“During times of turmoil, when the world has needed more crude oil, Saudi Arabia has worked without fanfare to promote stability in world markets,” Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi told the 300 attendees at a conference on US-Saudi energy relations co-sponsored by the US-Saudi Arabian Business Council and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“We have made a commitment to use our spare oil export capacity — even when it is stressful to our economic stability — in order to create a ‘cushion’ that maintains a balance in the global market,” he said.
“Saudi Arabia now has 1.2 trillion barrels of estimated reserve. This estimate is very conservative. Our analysis gives us reason to be very optimistic. We are continuing to discover new resources, and we are using new technologies to extract even more oil from existing reserves,” the minister said.
Naimi said Saudi Arabia is committed to sustaining the average price of $25 per barrel set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. He said prices should never increase to more than $28 or drop under $22.
“This is a fair price to consumers and producers. But, really, Saudi Arabia and OPEC has limited control on world markets,” said Al-Naimi.
“Prices are driven by other factors: Instability in key oil producing countries; industry struggles to produce specialized gasoline; and the resulting strains on refineries to meet local demand.”
“Saudi Arabia’s vast oil reserves are certainly there,” Naimi added. “None of these reserves requires advanced recovery techniques. We have more than sufficient reserves to increase output. If required, we can increase output from 10.5 million barrels a day to 12-15 million barrels a day. And we can sustain this increased output for 50 years or more. There will be no shortage of oil for the next 50 years. Perhaps much longer.”
Greenspan said he found Naimi’s news “most interesting,” but during his luncheon speech the Fed chairman cautioned that in order for the United States to sustain economic growth it must increase importation of natural gas products as a hedge against rising energy prices.
“(We need a) massive expansion of liquefied natural gas shipping terminals and (must) develop new offshore re-gasification technologies,” said Greenspan, who also warned that the economic growth of China is driving up the global demand - and cost - for steel, coal, oil, and natural gas.
Naimi said Saudi Arabia is acutely aware of the rising demands from China’s booming economy.
“People are underestimating Chinese demand for natural gas imports,” he said. “But we are ready to meet their demands but not at the expense of Saudi Arabia’s oil markets, particularly the US and Europe.”
Naimi said internal security is an additional concern to Saudi Arabia, which — according to Abdallah S. Jumah, president of Saudi Aramco — has required the Kingdom’s largest oil company to hire 5,000 people to protect its fields, pipelines and terminals.”
Additionally, Saudi Arabia’s key oil and finance ministers assured the audience — which included US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan — that the Kingdom has the capability to quickly double its oil output and sustain such a production surge for as long as 50 years.
“During times of turmoil, when the world has needed more crude oil, Saudi Arabia has worked without fanfare to promote stability in world markets,” Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi told the 300 attendees at a conference on US-Saudi energy relations co-sponsored by the US-Saudi Arabian Business Council and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“We have made a commitment to use our spare oil export capacity — even when it is stressful to our economic stability — in order to create a ‘cushion’ that maintains a balance in the global market,” he said.
“Saudi Arabia now has 1.2 trillion barrels of estimated reserve. This estimate is very conservative. Our analysis gives us reason to be very optimistic. We are continuing to discover new resources, and we are using new technologies to extract even more oil from existing reserves,” the minister said.
Naimi said Saudi Arabia is committed to sustaining the average price of $25 per barrel set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. He said prices should never increase to more than $28 or drop under $22.
“This is a fair price to consumers and producers. But, really, Saudi Arabia and OPEC has limited control on world markets,” said Al-Naimi.
“Prices are driven by other factors: Instability in key oil producing countries; industry struggles to produce specialized gasoline; and the resulting strains on refineries to meet local demand.”
“Saudi Arabia’s vast oil reserves are certainly there,” Naimi added. “None of these reserves requires advanced recovery techniques. We have more than sufficient reserves to increase output. If required, we can increase output from 10.5 million barrels a day to 12-15 million barrels a day. And we can sustain this increased output for 50 years or more. There will be no shortage of oil for the next 50 years. Perhaps much longer.”
Greenspan said he found Naimi’s news “most interesting,” but during his luncheon speech the Fed chairman cautioned that in order for the United States to sustain economic growth it must increase importation of natural gas products as a hedge against rising energy prices.
“(We need a) massive expansion of liquefied natural gas shipping terminals and (must) develop new offshore re-gasification technologies,” said Greenspan, who also warned that the economic growth of China is driving up the global demand - and cost - for steel, coal, oil, and natural gas.
Naimi said Saudi Arabia is acutely aware of the rising demands from China’s booming economy.
“People are underestimating Chinese demand for natural gas imports,” he said. “But we are ready to meet their demands but not at the expense of Saudi Arabia’s oil markets, particularly the US and Europe.”
Naimi said internal security is an additional concern to Saudi Arabia, which — according to Abdallah S. Jumah, president of Saudi Aramco — has required the Kingdom’s largest oil company to hire 5,000 people to protect its fields, pipelines and terminals.”
Stability fears rise as oil reliance grows
The world's reliance on oil and gas is set to increase sharply as global energy demand soars by 60% over the next 25 to 30 years, an influential report predicts.
Fossil fuels will continue to dominate global energy use, accounting for some 85% of the increase in world demand," according to the World Energy Outlook 2004.
The good news is that there is plenty of oil and gas in the ground to meet demand. "The Earth's energy resources are more than adequate to meet demand until 2030 and well beyond," the report says.
And the bad news? Well, where to begin?
Pollution threat
The world will have to contend with a predicted 60% rise in "climate-destabilising carbon dioxide" emissions between 2004 and 2030, most of it from cars, trucks and power stations.
More than two thirds of the increase will come from developing countries as a consequence of fast economic growth and a massive rise in car ownership.
"By 2030, they will account for almost half of total demand," according to the report's author, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA).
One way to cut harmful emissions from poor countries would be to reduce what the IEA calls "energy poverty".
"The ranks of those using traditional fuels in unsustainable and inefficient ways for cooking and heating will actually increase," the IEA says.
Despite the sharp rise in overall energy consumption, "a billion and a half of the world's poorest citizens totally lack access to electricity, and almost as many will lack it in the year 2030", says IEA executive director Claude Mandil.
Security
The report also raises concerns about energy security.
It points out that although increasing world trade will strengthen the interdependence between consumer countries and the main producers in the Middle East and Russia, "the world's vulnerability to supply disruptions will [also] increase as international trade expands".
Poor countries will struggle to secure investment in their electricity firms"All the large consuming countries, now including China and India, are growing increasingly dependent on imports from an ever-smaller group of distant producer countries, some of them politically unstable," says Mr Mandil.
"Wells or pipelines could be closed or tankers blocked by piracy, terrorist attacks or accidents," the report says.
As a consequence, "oil markets are likely to become less flexible and prices more volatile", says Mr Mandil, hinting at substantial energy price rises in the years ahead.
Cash call
Another factor that will push prices higher is the increasing cost of extracting oil and other energy sources and delivering them to consumers.
"Meeting projected demand will entail cumulative investment of some $16 trillion from 2003 to 2030, or $568bn per year," the IEA says.
Most of the investment would be absorbed by the electricity sector, and about half of this investment would be required by the developing countries where production and demand are set to increase the most, the IEA says.
"Those countries will face the biggest challenge in raising finance, because their needs are larger relative to the size of their economies and because the investment risks are bigger.
"The global financial system has the capacity to fund the required investments, but it will not do so unless conditions are right."
Less than a fifth of the total energy investment would go to the oil sector and of this $105bn, exploration and development costs will account for about 70%.
Much of the rest would go towards the upgrading of existing installations in developed countries, and there will also be substantial investment in the transport of oil.
New pipelines will be built, but increasingly tankers will take over due to ever longer supply chains.
"Oil prices will play a key role in attracting investment to the sector," the report says, though even here "several factors could discourage or dry up investment in particular regions or sectors".
Pay the price
The IEA draws a gloomy picture of the future, but along with it the agency also offers hope, insisting that its predictions about future trends are "not unalterable".
Alternative energy sources could be made commercially viable"More vigorous government action could steer the world onto a markedly different energy path," it says.
A truly sustainable energy system could be achieved by gearing up the search for "technological breakthroughs that radically alter how we produce and use energy", the report says.
In the short term, "carbon capture and storage technologies... hold out the tantalising prospect of using fossil fuels in a carbon-free way", while in the long run "advanced nuclear-reactor designs or breakthrough renewable technologies could one day help free us from our dependence on fossil fuels", the IEA says.
Market forces could be actively employed by governments to push for such developments by incorporating the "full cost of energy - including environmental costs", the report argues.
This should make alternative technologies, which currently appear to be expensive, seem like reasonable alternatives.
Fossil fuels will continue to dominate global energy use, accounting for some 85% of the increase in world demand," according to the World Energy Outlook 2004.
The good news is that there is plenty of oil and gas in the ground to meet demand. "The Earth's energy resources are more than adequate to meet demand until 2030 and well beyond," the report says.
And the bad news? Well, where to begin?
Pollution threat
The world will have to contend with a predicted 60% rise in "climate-destabilising carbon dioxide" emissions between 2004 and 2030, most of it from cars, trucks and power stations.
More than two thirds of the increase will come from developing countries as a consequence of fast economic growth and a massive rise in car ownership.
"By 2030, they will account for almost half of total demand," according to the report's author, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA).
One way to cut harmful emissions from poor countries would be to reduce what the IEA calls "energy poverty".
"The ranks of those using traditional fuels in unsustainable and inefficient ways for cooking and heating will actually increase," the IEA says.
Despite the sharp rise in overall energy consumption, "a billion and a half of the world's poorest citizens totally lack access to electricity, and almost as many will lack it in the year 2030", says IEA executive director Claude Mandil.
Security
The report also raises concerns about energy security.
It points out that although increasing world trade will strengthen the interdependence between consumer countries and the main producers in the Middle East and Russia, "the world's vulnerability to supply disruptions will [also] increase as international trade expands".
Poor countries will struggle to secure investment in their electricity firms"All the large consuming countries, now including China and India, are growing increasingly dependent on imports from an ever-smaller group of distant producer countries, some of them politically unstable," says Mr Mandil.
"Wells or pipelines could be closed or tankers blocked by piracy, terrorist attacks or accidents," the report says.
As a consequence, "oil markets are likely to become less flexible and prices more volatile", says Mr Mandil, hinting at substantial energy price rises in the years ahead.
Cash call
Another factor that will push prices higher is the increasing cost of extracting oil and other energy sources and delivering them to consumers.
"Meeting projected demand will entail cumulative investment of some $16 trillion from 2003 to 2030, or $568bn per year," the IEA says.
Most of the investment would be absorbed by the electricity sector, and about half of this investment would be required by the developing countries where production and demand are set to increase the most, the IEA says.
"Those countries will face the biggest challenge in raising finance, because their needs are larger relative to the size of their economies and because the investment risks are bigger.
"The global financial system has the capacity to fund the required investments, but it will not do so unless conditions are right."
Less than a fifth of the total energy investment would go to the oil sector and of this $105bn, exploration and development costs will account for about 70%.
Much of the rest would go towards the upgrading of existing installations in developed countries, and there will also be substantial investment in the transport of oil.
New pipelines will be built, but increasingly tankers will take over due to ever longer supply chains.
"Oil prices will play a key role in attracting investment to the sector," the report says, though even here "several factors could discourage or dry up investment in particular regions or sectors".
Pay the price
The IEA draws a gloomy picture of the future, but along with it the agency also offers hope, insisting that its predictions about future trends are "not unalterable".
Alternative energy sources could be made commercially viable"More vigorous government action could steer the world onto a markedly different energy path," it says.
A truly sustainable energy system could be achieved by gearing up the search for "technological breakthroughs that radically alter how we produce and use energy", the report says.
In the short term, "carbon capture and storage technologies... hold out the tantalising prospect of using fossil fuels in a carbon-free way", while in the long run "advanced nuclear-reactor designs or breakthrough renewable technologies could one day help free us from our dependence on fossil fuels", the IEA says.
Market forces could be actively employed by governments to push for such developments by incorporating the "full cost of energy - including environmental costs", the report argues.
This should make alternative technologies, which currently appear to be expensive, seem like reasonable alternatives.
List of petroleum companies
Ranked list by size.
A list of the largest petroleum companies is always somewhat arbitrary as state-owned companies operate differently to private-owned ones. As of April 2007 here are the list of the biggest petroleum companies in terms of oil reserves, figures in billions of barrels:[1]
Saudi Arabian Oil Company 295
National Iranian Oil Company 287
Qatar Petroleum 165
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company 137
Iraq National Oil Company 137
Gazprom 115
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation 107
Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. 102
Nigeria National Oil Corporation 62
National Oil Corporation (Libya) 45
Sonatrach 40
Rosneft 35
Alphabetical list of companies.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), United Arab Emirates
Addax Petroleum, Switzerland
Alon USA, United States
Amerada Hess Corporation, United States
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, United States
Apache Corporation, United States
Arbusto Energy, United States
Atlantic Petroleum, Faroe Islands
BG Group, United Kingdom
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, India
BHP Billiton, Australia
BP, United Kingdom
Cairn Energy, India
Canadian Natural Resources, Canada
Charottar Gas Sahkari Mandli., India
Chevron Corporation, United States
Citgo, Venezuela
CNOOC Ltd., China
ConocoPhillips, United States
Crown Central Petroleum, United States
Cupet, Cuba
Devon Energy, United States
Ecopetrol, Colombia
Emarat, UAE
Emarat Misr, Egypt
Enbridge, Canada
EnCana, Canada
ENSCO International, United States
Elinoil Hellenic Petroleum Company S.A., Greece
Eni, Italy
Entreprise Tunisienne d'Activites Petroliere (ETAP), Tunisia
Essar Oil, India
ExxonMobil, United States
Faroe Petroleum, Faroe Islands
Galp Energia, Portugal
Gujarat Oleo Chem Ltd., India
Geo Global Resources., India
Petronet LNG Limited, India
Gujarat Gas Co. Ltd., India
Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, India
Gulf Oil, Luxembourg
Grupa LOTOS, Poland
Hellenic Petroleum, Greece
HOECL, India
Husky Energy, Canada
Imperial Oil, Canada
INA (Industrija Nafte), Croatia
Indian Oil Corporation, India
Insight Energy Corp, United States
Irving Oil, Canada
Jubiliant Empro, India
JHON ENERGY, India
Kerr-McGee, United States
Koch Industries, United States
Kuwait German Petroleum Company, Canada
The Louisiana Land & Exploration Company, United States
LUKoil, Russia
Marathon Oil Corporation, United States
Maxol Group, Republic of Ireland
MedcoEnergi, Indonesia
Mol Group, Hungary
Naftna Industrija Srbije, Serbia
National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Iran
National Oil Corporation, Libya
Neste Oil, Finland
North Atlantic Petroleum, Canada
Northern Territory Oil Limited, Australia
NNPC,Nigeria
Occidental Petroleum
Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), Pakistan
Oil & Gas Petroleum Corporation, United States
Oil India Limited, India
OMV, Austria
ONGC, India
PKN Orlen S.A., Poland
PSO, Pakistan
Petróleos de Venezuela, Venezuela
Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico
Petro-Canada, Canada
Petro Peru, Peru
Petrobras, Brazil
PetroChina, China
Petroconpak, Pakistan
PetroKazakhstan, Canada
Petrom, Romania
Petron Corporation, Philippines
PETRONAS, Malaysia
Petrotrin, Trinidad and Tobago
Pertamina, Indonesia
Piyush Petroleum Co. Ltd, India
Pogo Producing, United States
Polish Oil and Gas Company, Poland
Prize Petroleum CO.LTD., India
Qatar Petroleum, Qatar
Reliance Industries Limited, India
Repsol YPF, Spain
Rompetrol Group N.V., Romania
Royal Dutch Shell, Netherlands, United Kingdom
Santos Limited, Australia
Sasol, South Africa
Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia (the largest in the world)
Shell Canada, Canada (subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell)
Shell Oil Company, United States (subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell)
Sinclair Oil, United States
Sinopec, China
Sonangol, Angola
Sonatrach, Algeria
SPC, Singapore
StatoilHydro, Norway
State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, SOCAR Azerbaijan
Stuart Petroleum Limited, Australia
Sunoco, United States
Suncor Energy, Canada
Surgutneftegaz, Russia
Syncrude, Canada
Talisman Energy, Canada
Teikoku Oil, Japan
Todd Energy, New Zealand
Total, France
Turkish Petroleum Corporation, Turkey
Turkish Petroleum International Company Limited, Turkey
Tüpraş, Turkey
United Petroleum, Australia
United Refining Company, United States
Vaalco Energy Inc., United States
Van Doren Oil, United States
Wyngate International, Inc. United States
Woodside Petroleum, Australia
YPFB, Bolivia
YUKOS, Russia
A list of the largest petroleum companies is always somewhat arbitrary as state-owned companies operate differently to private-owned ones. As of April 2007 here are the list of the biggest petroleum companies in terms of oil reserves, figures in billions of barrels:[1]
Saudi Arabian Oil Company 295
National Iranian Oil Company 287
Qatar Petroleum 165
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company 137
Iraq National Oil Company 137
Gazprom 115
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation 107
Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. 102
Nigeria National Oil Corporation 62
National Oil Corporation (Libya) 45
Sonatrach 40
Rosneft 35
Alphabetical list of companies.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), United Arab Emirates
Addax Petroleum, Switzerland
Alon USA, United States
Amerada Hess Corporation, United States
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, United States
Apache Corporation, United States
Arbusto Energy, United States
Atlantic Petroleum, Faroe Islands
BG Group, United Kingdom
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, India
BHP Billiton, Australia
BP, United Kingdom
Cairn Energy, India
Canadian Natural Resources, Canada
Charottar Gas Sahkari Mandli., India
Chevron Corporation, United States
Citgo, Venezuela
CNOOC Ltd., China
ConocoPhillips, United States
Crown Central Petroleum, United States
Cupet, Cuba
Devon Energy, United States
Ecopetrol, Colombia
Emarat, UAE
Emarat Misr, Egypt
Enbridge, Canada
EnCana, Canada
ENSCO International, United States
Elinoil Hellenic Petroleum Company S.A., Greece
Eni, Italy
Entreprise Tunisienne d'Activites Petroliere (ETAP), Tunisia
Essar Oil, India
ExxonMobil, United States
Faroe Petroleum, Faroe Islands
Galp Energia, Portugal
Gujarat Oleo Chem Ltd., India
Geo Global Resources., India
Petronet LNG Limited, India
Gujarat Gas Co. Ltd., India
Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, India
Gulf Oil, Luxembourg
Grupa LOTOS, Poland
Hellenic Petroleum, Greece
HOECL, India
Husky Energy, Canada
Imperial Oil, Canada
INA (Industrija Nafte), Croatia
Indian Oil Corporation, India
Insight Energy Corp, United States
Irving Oil, Canada
Jubiliant Empro, India
JHON ENERGY, India
Kerr-McGee, United States
Koch Industries, United States
Kuwait German Petroleum Company, Canada
The Louisiana Land & Exploration Company, United States
LUKoil, Russia
Marathon Oil Corporation, United States
Maxol Group, Republic of Ireland
MedcoEnergi, Indonesia
Mol Group, Hungary
Naftna Industrija Srbije, Serbia
National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Iran
National Oil Corporation, Libya
Neste Oil, Finland
North Atlantic Petroleum, Canada
Northern Territory Oil Limited, Australia
NNPC,Nigeria
Occidental Petroleum
Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), Pakistan
Oil & Gas Petroleum Corporation, United States
Oil India Limited, India
OMV, Austria
ONGC, India
PKN Orlen S.A., Poland
PSO, Pakistan
Petróleos de Venezuela, Venezuela
Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico
Petro-Canada, Canada
Petro Peru, Peru
Petrobras, Brazil
PetroChina, China
Petroconpak, Pakistan
PetroKazakhstan, Canada
Petrom, Romania
Petron Corporation, Philippines
PETRONAS, Malaysia
Petrotrin, Trinidad and Tobago
Pertamina, Indonesia
Piyush Petroleum Co. Ltd, India
Pogo Producing, United States
Polish Oil and Gas Company, Poland
Prize Petroleum CO.LTD., India
Qatar Petroleum, Qatar
Reliance Industries Limited, India
Repsol YPF, Spain
Rompetrol Group N.V., Romania
Royal Dutch Shell, Netherlands, United Kingdom
Santos Limited, Australia
Sasol, South Africa
Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia (the largest in the world)
Shell Canada, Canada (subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell)
Shell Oil Company, United States (subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell)
Sinclair Oil, United States
Sinopec, China
Sonangol, Angola
Sonatrach, Algeria
SPC, Singapore
StatoilHydro, Norway
State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, SOCAR Azerbaijan
Stuart Petroleum Limited, Australia
Sunoco, United States
Suncor Energy, Canada
Surgutneftegaz, Russia
Syncrude, Canada
Talisman Energy, Canada
Teikoku Oil, Japan
Todd Energy, New Zealand
Total, France
Turkish Petroleum Corporation, Turkey
Turkish Petroleum International Company Limited, Turkey
Tüpraş, Turkey
United Petroleum, Australia
United Refining Company, United States
Vaalco Energy Inc., United States
Van Doren Oil, United States
Wyngate International, Inc. United States
Woodside Petroleum, Australia
YPFB, Bolivia
YUKOS, Russia
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