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After oil is extracted from the earth does the void fill with something else?
My wife thinks that the empty space will cause earthquakes and wishes to know if this is true!
4 Answers
- cool_breeze_2444Lv 61 decade agoFavorite Answer
Oil doesn't just sit underground in a big pool, it is usually in porous rock. Generally, salt water is pumped into the ground to force the oil out of the rock. After the oil is pumped out, the rock is still there, so there is no empty space. Really, the oil wasn't doing anything to prevent earthquakes or anything. It's just there in the rock. And of course, the salt water replaces it in the rock.
- 1 decade ago
Yes it is filled, most of the time with water for 2 reasons, 1 It is easy to pump, readily available ( especially on off shore rigs ), and cheap, and #2 the oil is lighter than water so so no matter how deep the oil goes water displaces it making it float to the top where it is gathered from.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
Water and gas.
