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The Debate Over the Origin of Oil

The abiotic theory of the origin of oil, which suggests that oil is not derived from organic material, is still widely ridiculed in the United States as a “conspiracy theory” by the scientific community, despite most geo-scientists acknowledging that the idea of oil being produced by buried dinosaurs and ancient forests is no longer tenable.

The prevailing view among US geo-scientists is that oil is derived from ancient biological debris, such as plankton and algae, and is therefore considered a “fossil fuel”, even though the term “fossil” refers to the structure of an animal or plant filled with minerals, rather than the actual animal or plant itself.

Richard Heinberg, a senior fellow-in-residence at the Post Carbon Institute, argues that the assertion that all oil is abiotic requires extraordinary evidence to overcome the abundant evidence that ties specific oil accumulations to specific biological origins through a chain of well-understood processes.

Seppo Korpela, a professor at the Ohio State University Department of Mechanical Engineering, explains that fossil fuels form when organic matter in sedimentary layers is deprived of oxygen, allowing anaerobic bacteria to turn the organic material into kerogen, a substance that can be thought of as “immature oil”.

Kerogen Formation and the Fossil Fuel Process

Kerogen is a loose, geological term that refers to the naturally occurring, solid, insoluble organic material that occurs in source rocks and can yield oil upon heating, and is not a term typically found in chemistry textbooks or used by professional chemists.

The process by which kerogen is supposed to transform into “fossil fuel” involves the accumulation of dead organic material on the bottom of oceans, riverbeds, or swamps, mixing with mud and sand, and then being subjected to heat and pressure to produce oil, with the “oil window” being the zone at depths of between 6,000 and 13,000 feet where the temperature and pressure are suitable for this process to occur.

The process of transforming organic layers into kerogen, a dark and waxy substance, occurs over time as more sediment piles on top, resulting in heat and pressure that transforms the organic layer, and this process is described in the Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary.

The kerogen molecules eventually crack into shorter and lighter molecules composed almost solely of carbon and hydrogen atoms, which can turn into either petroleum or natural gas, depending on how liquid or gaseous the mixture is, as explained by the concept of kinetic cracking of kerogen into petroleum.

Chemical textbooks typically do not provide chemical formulae for kerogen, and the transformation from kerogen to fossil fuels appears to be more a matter of faith than an observed process that can be described in a precise chemical formula and replicated in a laboratory, according to M. Vandenbroucke of the French Institute of Petroleum.

Experimental Evidence for Abiotic Methane Production

In 2004, a research team led by Henry Scott of Indiana University, including Dudley Herschbach, a Harvard University research professor and Nobel Prize winner, successfully synthesized methane in a laboratory without using organic materials by squeezing together iron oxide, calcium carbonate, and water at high temperatures and pressures, testing a fundamental principle of the Fischer-Tropsch equations.

The experiment, which involved temperatures as hot as 500 degrees Celsius and pressures as high as 11 gigapascals, demonstrated the possibility of producing methane through abiotic means, which challenges the conventional understanding of the origin of oil and gas, and has implications for the concept of kerogen and the transformation of rock into hydrocarbon fuel.

The scientists conducted an experiment using a “diamond anvil cell” mechanism, which consisted of two diamonds, each about three millimeters high, to compress a small metal plate holding a sample of iron oxide, calcite, and water, in order to simulate the conditions deep within the earth.

The diamonds were chosen for the experiment because they are one of the hardest substances on earth, can withstand tremendous force, and are transparent, allowing scientists to use beams of light and X-rays to identify the contents of the cell without disrupting it, as explained by researchers including Henry P. Scott, Russell J. Hemley, Ho-kwang Mao, Dudley R. Herschbach, Laurence E. Fried, W. Michael Howard, and Sorin Bastea.

The goal of the experiment was to prove that a hydrocarbon of the petroleum family could be produced via simple inorganic reactions involving no biological agents, and remarkably, the experiment was successful in producing methane, the principal component of natural gas, at temperatures around 500 degrees Celsius and pressures of seven gigapascals or greater.

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US Army’s Post-WWII Investigation into German Synthetic Oil Production

The US Army had over 10,000 investigators, including industrialists, engineers, scientists, and technicians, who visited thousands of enemy factories, scientific institutions, and businesses in Germany to conduct top-secret interviews and gather documents as World War II drew to a close.

These investigators, who were actually intelligence operatives, were tasked with uncovering the secrets of Germany’s strategic materials production, including advanced weaponry such as jet airplanes and rockets, and were particularly interested in the country’s ability to produce synthetic oil.

According to Professor Arnold Krammer, a historian at Texas A&M University, the US Technical Oil Mission to Europe in 1945 was a significant effort to acquire German technology and knowledge, with tons of records being hauled out of bombed-out factories and German scientists being questioned by American officers.

Germany had invested heavily in scientific research to develop a strategic advantage, including the production of synthetic oil, which was crucial due to the country’s lack of petroleum deposits, as noted by Anthony N. Stranges of the Department of History at Texas A&M University.

The Fischer-Tropsch Process and Germany’s Synthetic Fuel Development

The Fischer-Tropsch process, developed by German chemists in the early twentieth century, was a key discovery that explained the origin of oil as a naturally occurring phenomenon and allowed for the production of synthetic oil from coal, which was abundant in Germany.

The development of synthetic oil was essential for Germany’s fuel requirements, which had shifted from coal to gasoline and diesel oil with the increasing use of automobiles, trucks, airplanes, and diesel oil-powered ships, including the country’s navy, and the Fischer-Tropsch process provided a solution to this problem.

The US investigators were interested in acquiring this knowledge and technology, not only to understand Germany’s war efforts but also to gain insight into the production of synthetic oil, which had significant implications for the global oil industry and the understanding of the origin of oil as a natural resource.

The development of the Fischer-Tropsch process by German chemists Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch in the 1920s enabled the production of synthetic gasoline and diesel fuel from coal, which was crucial for powering a competitive national industrial economy and a strong military operation.

The German industrial giant I.G. Farben, with support from the Luftwaffe and the Nazi high command, utilized the Fischer-Tropsch process to produce high-quality aviation fuel, and by 1936, the company was no longer independent but a government-private enterprise.

The Fischer-Tropsch process played a significant role in Nazi Germany’s ability to launch World War II, as the country had fourteen synthetic fuel plants in operation and six more under construction by the time Hitler attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, producing approximately 95 percent of the aviation fuel used by the Luftwaffe.

Synthetic Fuel Production and Its Strategic Importance in WWII

By 1943, Nazi Germany was producing almost three million metric tons of gasoline by hydrogenation of coal, and adding diesel fuel, aviation fuel, and lubricants produced synthetically from coal, the country was able to satisfy up to 75 percent of its fuel demand through coal conversion.

Imperial Japan also adopted the Fischer-Tropsch process, aiming to produce 6.3 million barrels annually of synthetic gasoline and diesel fuel by 1944, but the country’s ambitions were thwarted by the economic demands of waging war, and only fifteen synthetic fuel plants were constructed, reaching peak production of 717,000 barrels in 1944.

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