As Soon As Anything Drops Dead

natural gas is produced. Instantaneous.

Oil, on the other hand, takes millions of years to form.

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This quote from John McPhee, the best-known "peoples" writer on geology of our country (he writes books, and articles for the New Yorker):




Natural gas is to oil as politicians are to statesmen. Any organic material whatsoever will form natural gas and will form it rapidly, at earth-surface temperatures and on up to many hundreds of degrees. ... "You get natural gas as soon as anything drops dead." For oil, the requisites are the organic material and [a] thermal window [of 50-150 degrees centigrade over millions of years]. John McPhee, In Suspect Terrain, N.Y. Noonday Press, 1991, p.55