22/04/2026
𝐈 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐈𝐋 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄. 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐎𝐈𝐋 𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐃𝐒 “𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄.” 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐔𝐌 𝐁𝐔𝐁𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐔𝐏 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐄. 𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐍, 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋 𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄, 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆.
I thought this was settled science on the order of 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 and 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘵. Apparently not. The idea has a name. It is called 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐮𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐲, it has been around since the 19th century, it got a push from Soviet geologists in the mid-20th century, and Cornell astrophysicist Thomas Gold popularized a version of it in the West in the 1990s.
It is a real scientific minority view, not crackpot nonsense on its face. But the overwhelming weight of evidence — chemical, isotopic, and geological — says it is wrong. 𝐎𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. Here is how we know.
𝐎𝐧𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬.
Crude oil contains specific molecules called 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞, 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞, 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬. These are not generic hydrocarbons. They are chemical fingerprints of once-living organisms.
𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐬 derive directly from chlorophyll — the pigment plants and algae use to photosynthesize.
𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞 are breakdown products of phytol, another chlorophyll component.
𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬 come from bacterial cell membranes.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬 come from sterols in eukaryotic cell membranes — the same chemistry that makes cholesterol in your body.
These molecules do not occur in abiotic chemistry. They are produced by living cells, period. Their presence in crude oil is not a coincidence. It is the receipt. 𝐈𝐟 𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬.
𝐓𝐰𝐨. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐬𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞.
Carbon exists in nature in two stable forms: carbon-12 (the common one) and carbon-13 (a heavier, rarer one). Living organisms preferentially take up carbon-12 during photosynthesis, which leaves biological carbon with a distinct 12C/13C ratio that is different from carbon found in the deep Earth.
Crude oil’s isotope ratio matches biological carbon. Not mantle carbon. Not volcanic carbon. 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐧.
This is about as close to a smoking gun as geochemistry gets. The carbon in the gasoline in your tank today was pulled out of the atmosphere by photosynthesis hundreds of millions of years ago, and the isotope ratio still proves it.
𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐎𝐟 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐎𝐢𝐥 𝐈𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝.
Oil is found almost exclusively in 𝐬𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐬 that have three specific ingredients:
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤. Organic-rich shale, deposited in ancient seabeds or lake beds where dead algae and plankton accumulated.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. The source rock has to have been buried and cooked in the 𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸, roughly 60 to 120 degrees Celsius, for long enough to crack the organic matter into liquid hydrocarbons.
𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐩 𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐲. A porous reservoir rock capped by an impermeable seal, so the oil collects instead of escaping to the surface.
If oil welled up abiotically from the mantle, it would appear in 𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤, in random locations, regardless of sedimentary history. 𝐈𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭. Every major producing basin on Earth — the Permian, the Bakken, the Ghawar, the North Sea, Prudhoe Bay — sits on ancient biologically-derived source rock and tracks the geography of ancient ecosystems.
𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 “𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝” 𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡.
The most-cited proof of abiotic oil is the claim that 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. Almost every version of that claim traces back to one case: the 𝐄𝐮𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐈𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟑𝟑𝟎 field in the Gulf of Mexico in the 1990s, where production partially rebounded after an expected decline.
Abiotic-oil proponents pointed to it and said 𝘴𝘦𝘦, 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦. When the geologists actually studied it, the answer turned out to be 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Oil was moving up along a deep fault system from a lower, still-charged source rock into the upper producing reservoir.
That is biogenic oil, generated millions of years ago from buried organic matter, slowly recharging an upper trap from a deeper one. It is real. It is documented in a handful of other fields. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬.
𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.
I care about this because truth matters, and because the political coalition I belong to has to be the one that is on the side of evidence. The left spent twenty years screaming 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘰𝘪𝘭 at us and was wrong because they misunderstood shale. That is a real win. But we do not get to bank that win by pivoting to a different wrong theory about where oil comes from.
The actual story is more impressive than the myth anyway:
𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨, algae and plankton lived and died in ancient oceans. Their bodies sank, got buried under sediment, cooked slowly at specific temperatures and pressures for geologic time, and turned into the energy that powers modern civilization.
That is not a diminishment of the resource. It is a reminder of what a miracle it is that any of it exists at all, and why it makes sense to use it wisely rather than pretend the Earth is making more of it for us on our schedule.
𝐎𝐢𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐥𝐥-𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤. 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭-𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐮𝐦 𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭-𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐭𝐡.
