As you probably know, petroleum is dug from the earth. Drilling for petroleum probably does not sound too complicated of a project. However, there is more to drilling in the petroleum industry than digging really deep holes. At the rate of blindly drilling holes in the ground, most companies would have gone bankrupt! Have you ever noticed that usually when a petroleum company starts a project, they are always on the money? When oil is struck, it is not a matter of good luck, but the use of technology in combination of geology and geophysics.

GEOLOGY

   Geology is the study of the earth's crust. Before we move further on with our investigation, we must understand the basic geological formation of fossil fuels. For billions of years, there have been different forms of organisms walking the earth. One by one, many died on some sort of solid surface, such as land or the ocean floor. They were left undisturbed for many years. During this time, corrosion of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks formed tiny granules that piled up. The tiny granules of rock eventually piled up to an enormous sedimentary cliff or basin. The weight of the organic rock form was under a huge amount of pressure which increased as new layers of granules were added. Over millions of years, the pressure had crushed the organisms so much, that they dissolved and were petrified. Petrify means to replace a dead plant or animal with minerals. This resulted in Mother Nature's production of hydrocarbon traps. Hydrocarbon is the general name for oil and gas. There are three major types of traps of petroleum: the Anticline trap (figure 1), the Reef trap (figure 2), and the Fault trap (figure 3). These "traps" are high concentrations of oil and natural due to the formation of something similar to a "storage place" from anticlines, faults and reefs.

Figure 1; Anticline trap Oil trapped under layers of arched rocks.	Figure 2; Reef Trap Oil is trapped remains of ancient coral on the sea floor.	Figure 3; Fault Trap Oil is trapped by a split in the earth's crust.

GEOPHYSICS

   In order to figure out where to drill holes in the process of extraction, technology in the geophysics of petroleum are utilized. One technique used for detection of petroleum is using seismic data recording (figure 4). A truck full of data processing and interpretation equipment is driven to the where a company is planning on drilling. A vibrating vehicle is positioned above where scientists predict the hydrocarbons are. This vehicle shakes violently to produce seismic waves that travel through the ground. A geophone is used to record the reflection path of the seismic waves underground. The geophone transmits the information to the recording truck, and is then processed. Geophysicists determine whether or not the terrain will bring a desirable outcome of petroleum.

Figure 4; Seismic Data Recording
Seismic data recording is an essential in the detection of hydrocarbons.