RENEWABLE OIL FIELDS

"Scientist suggests some oil reservoirs refilling'' by M. W. Brown, New York Times, in the Houston Chronicle, October 1, 1995, p 9D reports the work of J. K. Whelan from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts. She finds evidence in the composition of oil in some oil fields and also in the rate of depletion of some fields that suggests that these fields are refilling from previously undiscovered oil and gas fields below them.

The new fields are estimated to be more than 30,000 feet deep -below depths currently drilled for oil. K. K. Bissada from Texaco in Houston is quoted as skeptical that this refilling can keep up with current human use, but he thinks it possible that the upper reservoirs that currently serve as a source for oil could be refilled in 10 or 20 years -which is comparable to current emptying times.

It does seem odd that all of the earth's oil fields just happen to be within easy reach of 20th Century drilling techniques. That deeper fields might rise into the empty reservoirs which we create above them would be a fortuitous occurrence indeed.

Even if this turns out to be a rare occurrence, it has value. Think of the nightmares it will give Paul Ehrlich when news reaches Stanford.

•	Technology and Lifespan
•	NUCLEAR POWER
•	TURNING UP THE HEAT
•	*RENEWABLE OIL FIELDS*
•	ELECTRICAL LUBRICATION
•	ELECTRONIC UNIVERSITIES
•	STARK RAVING MAD
•	GOOD READING

Vol. 23, No. 3

Newsletter: Access to Energy Newsletter Archive
Volume: Issues
Issue/No.: Vol. 23, No. 3

Date: November 01, 1995 01:17 PM
Title: Technology and Lifespan