Secrets of black gold: where does oil come from?

(ORDO NEWS) — You’ve probably heard the claim that oil comes from dinosaurs, and when you’re at the gas station, you’re now imagining how you’re pouring a recycled velociraptor into your car. No matter how common the belief may be, it is not true.

Oil is not produced from the decomposed bodies of ancient dinosaurs, although indirectly it has some connection with them.

Algae and plankton, once thriving in the deep seas, have undergone a transformation to become the source of one of the most important energy resources of our time: oil. Millions of years ago, they were doomed to die and sank to the bottom of the ocean, where an amazing metamorphosis began.

Over hundreds of millions of years, remnants of algae and plankton accumulated under layers of sediment under high pressure and low oxygen. Under the influence of these factors, organic matter was “fried” and turned into the sticky black oil that we humans strive to possess, despite increasing climate threats.

The oil begins its journey upward, seeping through the layers of the earth until it hits a barrier, which can become solid rock. In such cases, it is necessary to drill through this barrier to free up a valuable energy resource.

However, not all organic remains that perish in the sea are transformed into oil. This is because this process requires an environment devoid of oxygen. Some sea dinosaurs probably didn’t have the ability to turn into black gold. After death, their bodies served as food for smaller aquatic creatures, decomposing and giving way to a new life cycle.

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