Finding Oil

The United States, in 2005 alone, consumed per day an estimate of 9 million barrels of crude oil and 13.21 million barrels of imported oil. This oil is refined into gasoline, kerosene, heating oil and other essential products. To keep up with this demand, oil companies must constantly look for new sources of petroleum, as well as improve the production of existing wells.

The fossil fuel oil can be found in countries all over the world. It was formed from the remains of tiny plants and animals (plankton) that died in ancient seas millions of years ago. After the organisms died, they sank into the sand at the sea’s bottom. Over the years, the organisms decayed in the sedimentary layers. Because there was little oxygen there, the organisms broke down into carbon-rich compounds. This material mixed with the sediments, forming fine-grained shale which known as the source rock. As new sedimentary layers were deposited, they put intense pressure and heat on the source rock which distilled the organic material into crude oil and natural gas. The oil flowed from the source rock and accumulated in thicker, more porous limestone or sandstone, called reservoir rock.

Movements and shifts in the Earth’s surface trapped oil and natural gas in the reservoir rocks between layers of impermeable rock, or cap rock, such as granite and marble. These movements of the earth included folding when the rock moved horizontally inward creating a fold or anticline; faulting where the layers of rock cracked with one side shifting upward and the other downward, and pinching out when a layer of impermeable rock squeezed upward into the reservoir rock.

Oil companies like Triple Diamond Energy Corporation employ directly or under contract from a private firm, geologists who actually find the oil. Their task is to find the right conditions for an oil trap—the right source rock, reservoir rock and entrapment. They interprete surface features, surface rock, soil types, and small core samples obtained by shallow drilling and, nowadays, with the additional help of satellite images. They also can use sensitive gravity meters to measure tiny changes in the Earth's gravitational field that indicate flowing oil, as well as sensitive magnetometers to measure tiny changes in the Earth's magnetic field caused by flowing oil. They can detect the smell of hydrocarbons using sensitive electronic noses called sniffers. And they also most commonly use seismology, creating shock waves passing through hidden rock layers. In seismic surveys, a shock wave is created by a compressed-air gun which shoots pulses of air into the water for exploration over water, a thumper truck which slams heavy plates into the ground for exploration over land, and explosives drilled into the ground for exploration over both land and water.

Although modern oil exploration methods have made it easier for finding oil, geologists still only have a 10-percent success rate for finding new oil fields. Once a prospective oil strike is found, the location is marked.

Chris Jent is the Chief Marketing Officer of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit htttp://www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com