Where is oil mostly found?

Answer 1

I've included two links on oil exploration. The geologist and geophysicist use their skills to identify underground structures which appear to have good potential for oil production.

So, the geologist studies how oil is formed underground. It is a bit like making a cake. You need a container to put your ingredients into. This is the structure or trap. You need ingredients, which are organic material, comprised of dead marine plants and animals. Next you need to cook your ingredients for enough time, and in the case of oil, for at least 10 million of years. Some oil fields were initially deposited 300 million years ago.

So, finding areas where there is likely to have been an abundance of marine life millions of years ago, and then something happened to trap these organics and convert them to hydrocarbons, is how oil is found.

The geophysicist will examine seismic maps, and identify structures sufficiently large, that could contain large amounts of oil.

Please see the related links. The second link gives an example of a seismic section. Computer processing of the seismic waves (reflected sound waves) has greatly improved hydrocarbon exploration.

Answer 2

It is found mostly in the Middle East, because around 80million years ago ,a period of climate change caused the ocean currents to stop, and the Tethys sea (what is now the mediteranean) stagnated, and all the marine organisms died, poisoned by a biuldup of hydrogen sulphide, and sank to the bottom. With the northern movement of the African plate, and the shrinking of the Tethys sea, this mass of decomposing material shifted east.

The largest oil and gas reserves are in Central Asia and Siberia

Answer 3

To understand where crude oil accumulations can be found one must understand the history of crude oil. By retracing this history geologists are able to determine the most probable locations for finding oil.

Geologic_History_of_crude_oil">Geologic History of crude oil

When aquatic microorganisms die they settle to the bottom of the ocean or sedimentary basin in which they lived. Over time these accumulations of dead organic material are buried beneath newly deposited sediments. Eventually the depth and pressure is so great that the organic material is mixed with sediments and lithified into a sedimentary rock. At this point the organic material in the rock is referred to as kerogen. After even longer expanses of time the kerogen becomes buried deeper and deeper beneath new sediments until the temperature and pressure is so great that the kerogen is upgraded to the low density liquid we know as crude oil. By the time this occurs millions of years have passed since the original microorganisms died and the geology of the sedimentary basin has undergone many changes. These changes could include new faults created by earthquakes, new hills (synclines and anticlines) created by tectonic stresses, and changes in sea level. As the low density crude oil rises it may become trapped in these new structural features.

Retracing this History

To find these oil accumulations exploration and production companies retrace the history of the oil. They begin their search by identifying areas that used to be submerged in a sea, lake, or part of the ocean. These places are known as sedimentary basins. Next, they look for locations in these basins where the oil is likely to be found. These locations are next to faults, below anticline hills, and in sedimentary angular unconformity traps. Additionally they can find crude oil accumulations of the coasts of continents. This is because rivers empty continental sediments into the portions of the ocean basins that are next to the continent and thus the sedimentation rate is higher here (recall that kerogen forms after years of sedimentation).

Answer 4

North America

i think

Answer 5

Oil is located on earth under the Middle East

Answer 6

The North Sea

Answer 7

under the ground in Afghanistan !

Answer 8

every where