Oil and Natural Gas

Oil is found in the world’s sedimentary basins and is widely believed to have been generated from countless millions of marine organisms which lived in the shallow waters surrounding pre-historic land masses. Through time, these drifted down to the sea-bed where the fatty acids contained in the organisms were transformed to a proto-petroleum product through bacteriological reduction. Probably through continuous and prolonged geothermal heating, this proto-petroleum was later transformed into the crude oil and natural gas we now know. In certain areas where porous rock was covered by impervious rocks such as salt or clay, the oil and gas gradually collected in these reservoirs.