How do Scientists Discover Oil? Part 2
Once geologists have found an area they think may contain oil reservoirs, they turn to several different tools and techniques to ascertain if there really is oil hidden away in the ground below.
There are numerous pieces of equipment that can be used in the process of looking for oil.
One tactic is to not look but test for the smell of hydrocarbons. These specialized detectors, informally known as sniffers, use ultra-sensitive electronic noses to detect indicators of the presence of hydrocarbons.
Another technique is to deploy advance seismic equipment. These machines create special shock waves that are sent down through the Earth’s crust, passing through multiple layers of rock. The waves reflect back from the materials they pass through and are turned into information that is sent back to the seismological equipment for analysis.
These waves are generated through a handful of methods: through a blast from a compressed air gun that directs air pulses into the water for off-land exploration; a large thumper truck that pounds heavy plates into the Earth; and, the most old-fashioned way, explosives which are detonated after being drilled into the ground or thrown overboard. The trick with the reflected shock waves is that they travel along at different speeds depending on the type of rock they pass through, giving seismologists raw data to interpret as they look for indicators of oil and gas.
Another methodis the use of magnetometers. These instruments measure the magnet field of the ground beneath them. Geological formations in rocks that may contain oil deposits give off very low magnetic readings. These magnetic surveys are often done by flying over target areas to get a general indicator of possible oil deposits. Then, as a follow-up they’re deployed on the ground to get a more accurate reading of anomalies discovered by the air sweep.
Then there is to check the electrical resistance of the ground. Probes are inserted into the ground in a targeted area, and a current is then passed between them. The level of electrical resistance is used to decipher whether there may be oil deposits. This is because rocks that are porous – and thus more likely to contain oil – have a stronger resistance than non-porous rock formations.
BACK
Categories
- All (133)
- General Category (23)
- Magnetometers (30)
- News & Events (96)
Recent Posts
- PDAC March 2 – 5, 2025
- 2024 Holiday Office Hours
- AGU2024: Dec 9th to 12th, Washington D.C.
- XXth IAGA, October 31 – November 6, 2024, Brazil
- SAGA 2024, October 1-4, Windhoek
- EAGE 2024, Oslo – June 10 to 13
- Intermag 2024 in Rio – May 5 to 10
- PDAC 2024, March 3 – 6, Toronto
- Suitability of magnetometry to detect clandestine buried firearms from a controlled field site and numerical modeling
- 2023/24 GEM Systems Holiday Schedule
RSS Feeds
Archives
- January 2025
- December 2024
- October 2024
- June 2024
- April 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- October 2023
- June 2023
- February 2023
- December 2022
- October 2022
- August 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- December 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- May 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- December 2015
- October 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014