<p>Almost nil on human time scales.</p>

<p>The total estimated reserves (this number keeps changing over time) are of the order of 300E9 m^3. For convenience lets say all of this oil formed over the last 300 million years at a constant rate. Then the rate of formation is  1000 m^3 per year or ~6000 barrels of usable oil.</p>

<p>This obviously is a simple back of the envelope calculation and doesn't account for oil that has been lost/degraded/converted to other hydrocarbons over time. Also the rate of formation varies a lot (depends on climate, position/structure of plates and what not).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-29T00:00:07.697Z
This answer could use some references. I suspect an estimate on the basis of reserves must be orders of magnitude off because it doesn't account for the fact that most (almost all?) molecules of hydrocarbons produced are not trapped or preserved.
Matt Hall
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-09T15:45:56.180Z
@kwinkunks True, but for human purposes, what isn't trapped is lost. You could argue that by introducing humans to the production process we can get rid of the losses and gain a much bigger source, but that's outside of the scope of the question IMO.
Luaan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-28T10:34:31.057Z
2015-06-28T10:34:31.057Z
stali
<p>What is the natural replenishment rate of oil? Are extinction events connected with higher production?</p>

<geology><petrology><mass-extinction>
What is the natural replenishment rate of oil?
reddit
# What is the natural replenishment rate of oil?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-06-28)

What is the natural replenishment rate of oil? Are extinction events connected with higher production?

**Tags:** geology, petrology, mass-extinction


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-06-28. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Almost nil on human time scales.

The total estimated reserves (this number keeps changing over time) are of the order of 300E9 m^3. For convenience lets say all of this oil formed over the last 300 million years at a constant rate. Then the rate of formation is 1000 m^3 per year or ~6000 barrels of usable oil.

This obviously is a simple back of the envelope calculation and doesn't account for oil that has been lost/degraded/converted to other hydrocarbons over time. Also the rate of formation varies a lot (depends on climate, position/structure of plates and what not).

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: This answer could use some references. I suspect an estimate on the basis of reserves must be orders of magnitude off because it doesn't account for the fact that most (almost all?) molecules of hydrocarbons produced are not trapped or preserved.  
> **username_3**: @kwinkunks True, but for human purposes, what isn't trapped is lost. You could argue that by introducing humans to the production process we can get rid of the losses and gain a much bigger source, but that's outside of the scope of the question IMO.  

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