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An oil field is an area of accumulated liquid petroleum underground in multiple (potentially linked) reservoirs, trapped as it rises to impermeable rock formations. In industrial terms, an oil field implies that there is an economic benefit worthy of commercial attention.
[73] [74] [71] Below the minimum temperature oil remains trapped in the form of kerogen. Above the maximum temperature the oil is converted to natural gas through the process of thermal cracking. Sometimes, oil formed at extreme depths may migrate and become trapped at a much shallower level. The Athabasca oil sands are one example of this. [71]
This form of recovery is used extensively to increase oil extraction in the San Joaquin Valley, which yields a very heavy oil, yet accounts for ten percent of the United States' oil extraction. [citation needed] Fire flooding (In-situ burning) is another form of TEOR, but instead of steam, some of the oil is burned to heat the surrounding oil.
Some of the oil and gas percolate all the way to the surface as natural seepages, either on land or on the sea floor. The rest remains trapped underground by geological barriers [b] in a variety of trap geometries. In this way, underground pockets of oil and gas accumulate by displacing water in porous rock.
This is when most of the hydrocarbons are generated. Approximately 50%-90% petroleum is made and expelled at this point. The next step is the hydrocarbons entering the oil window. The oil window has to do with the source rock being the appropriate maturity, and also being at the right depth for oil exploration.
In situ technologies heat oil shale underground by injecting hot fluids into the rock formation, or by using linear or planar heating sources followed by thermal conduction and convection to distribute heat through the target area. Shale oil is then recovered through vertical wells drilled into the formation. [12]
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Mineral oil is organic. However, it is classified as "mineral oil" instead of as "organic oil" because its organic origin is remote (and was unknown at the time of its discovery), and because it is obtained in the vicinity of rocks, underground traps, and sands. Mineral oil also refers to several specific distillates of crude oil. [citation needed]