Unconventional Gas Reservoirs

6.9. The Science of Water and Petroleum

Petroleum is the second most abundant fluid available on earth. Only water is more abundant than oil. While the role of water in creating and sustaining life is well recognized, the role of petroleum has been mischaracterized. Such mischaracterization is unique to the modern epoch and is paradoxical (Islam et al., 2010). This “bad name” comes from the original paradox, called “water–diamond paradox,” first reported by Adam Smith, the father of modern economics. This paradox (also known as paradox of value) is the apparent contradiction that, although water is on the whole more useful, in terms of survival, than diamonds, diamonds command a higher price in the market. In a passage of Adam Smith's An Inquiry ...