Whence Came the Hydrocarbons? Life, Petroleum Origins, and Climate Futures

• In Event: STS Underground - II: Subterranean Timescapes

Abstract

Origin stories are central to understanding a society’s cultural foundations. Similarly, the multiple and competing origin stories of oil in the petroleum science community are critical but have often been overlooked by scholars concerned more with the political and economic structures of industry. This paper takes oil’s origin stories seriously. Since the early 20th century, debates surrounding oil exploration focused on uncovering the genesis of hydrocarbons, specifically with a view to facilitating the location of new petroreserves across the globe. Were hydrocarbons biotic in origin – that is, the product of decomposing organic matter on our planet? Or were they abiotic – the product of physical processes either deep in Earth’s core, or within other extraterrestrial bodies, such as asteroids or comets that had crashed into the Earth? While North American scientists argued that oil was the result of a mass marine extinction in the late Devonian, Soviet scientists rejected that oil was “decayed fish,” suggesting instead that oil was a primordial material and not a “fossil” fuel. This paper examines the important correspondence that occurred between 20th century Canadian, specifically Albertan, and Soviet scientists. In a debate over the origins of Alberta’s Oil Sands, these scientists laid an important foundation upon which later debates about energy transition would be built. Using archival documents from the Imperial Oil Collection and personal collections in the Glenbow Archives, this paper argues that hydrocarbon origin debates have actually shaped our ability to conceive of climate change, the finite nature of resources, and our planetary future.

Author

• Sabrina Peric, University of Calgary