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KTH | Easier to find oil

Researchers at KTH have been able to prove that the fossils of animals and plants are not necessary to generate raw oil and natural gas. This result is extremely radical as it means that it will be much easier to find these energy sources and that they may be located all over the world.

Methane-derived hydrocarbons produced under upper-mantle conditions : Abstract : Nature Geoscience

Here we use in situ Raman spectroscopy in laser-heated diamond anvil cells to monitor the chemical reactivity of methane and ethane under upper-mantle conditions. We show that when methane is exposed to pressures higher than 2 GPa, and to temperatures in the range of 1,000–1,500 K, it partially reacts to form saturated hydrocarbons containing 2–4 carbons (ethane, propane and butane) and molecular hydrogen and graphite. Conversely, exposure of ethane to similar conditions results in the production of methane, suggesting that the synthesis of saturated hydrocarbons is reversible. Our results support the suggestion that hydrocarbons heavier than methane can be produced by abiogenic processes in the upper mantle.

BG's Brazilian oil find will 'dwarf' BP's strike in the US Gulf Coast | Business | guardian.co.uk

BG's Guara oil field in the Santos Basin is estimated to contain up to two billion barrels of recoverable reserves

Israel Moves Toward Energy Independence - BusinessWeek

The huge natural gas reserves off the country's Mediterranean coast are 16% bigger than estimated just one month ago

Peter Foster: Oil and the minds of men - FP Comment

The oil industry, by contrast, is constantly producing new wonders. In a piece in the latest Foreign Policy magazine, oil historian and consultant Daniel Yergin notes that, “Again and again, in researching oil’s history, I was struck by how seemingly insurmountable barriers and obstacles were overcome by technological progress, often unanticipated.”

Carbon trading ‘may spell early end to oil fields’ - Herald Scotland | Business | Markets & Economy

As many as 900 million barrels of UK oil reserves could end up abandoned unless ageing fields are exempted from carbon trading, according to one of the industry’s most senior figures.