Monthly Article Vol #01

lorem ipsum

Wednesday, March 9 2016

issue #, date

HOW OIL AND

GAS FORMED
Oil and natural gas were formed from the
remains of prehistoric plants and animals. And
thats why theyre called fossil fuels!. Oil and
gas are important fossil fuels formed from the
decomposition and pressurisation of mainly
dead algae and plankton.
These microscopic plants and animal absorbed
energy from the sun when they were alive. It
was stored as carbon molecules in their bodies.
When they died, they sank to the bottom of the
sea along with sand, silt and rocks.
Over time, increasing pressure and temperature
changed the mud, sand and silt into rock (known
as source rock). It slowly cooked the organic
matter into petroleum inside the rock formation.
This phenomenon is similar to how a sponge
holds water equals rock holds oil. Organic
material (mostly plankton and dead algae) in
these rock layers breaks down to form new
structures, a waxy material, known as kerogen
and a black tar called bitumen. This
phenomenon is called Diagenesis. Diagenesis is
a process of compaction under mild conditions
of temperature and pressure. The bitumen is the
heaviest components of petroleum. The kerogen
will undergo further change to make
hydrocarbons and, of course more bitumen.

As temperatures and pressures increase, the

process of catagenesis begins. Catagenesis is
the thermal degradation of kerogen to form
hydrocarbon chains.
After that, Oil and gas will float upward
toward the surface -since oil and natural gas
are less dense than water-. Some oil and
natural gas migrated all the way to the
surface
and
escaped.
More
often,
hydrocarbons path upward is blocked by a
layer of impermeable rock or by some other
geologic formation. These trap the oil and
natural gas. it may be recovered only by
drilling a well.

Glossary Today!
Permeability: The ability, or measurement of a rock's ability, to transmit
fluids, typically measured in darcies or millidarcies.