THE EXPLORERS

[Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] the [Music] this land was once the bottom of the sea millions of years ago [Music] like men rocks have a history The Mark of a fossil tells the story each fossil was once a living thing hundreds of millions of years ago the sun gave it life [Music] these organisms lived in the Seas which covered much of what now is land the organisms multiplied they died and fell they joined with plant remains and with the Sands and Clays the rivers brought and built up the Muddy Bottom of the Sea in the form of sedimentary basins as the ages passed layer formed on layer storing bring the energy of the Sun in the deepest tomb in some places the deposits of animal and plant remains turned into a dark liquid oil still holding the sun's energy at the same time the pressure of new layers and the heat within the Earth changed mud into rocks some layers were porous like a sponge others were nonporous impervious like metal as the Earth aged the sedimentary basins Rose and fell and rose again the layers of rock were bent the oil gathered in layers of porous Rock such as Limestone and Sandstone floating on water and mixed with gases the oil was stopped by layers of impervious Rock here the changing Earth had formed a trap holding liquids and gas under pressure on the surface over the ages the Sun and wind and rains wore down the mountains and the domes that hid the oil the oil remained far below invisible Waiting In Time the scorching sun and dry wind turned the face of Many Lands including much of Saudi Arabia into naked Rock and desert today in this land man sees the signs of things things that happened ages before he lived on Earth in the TU escarpment near the center of Saudi Arabia layers of limestone sandstone and Shale are all exposed by rain and sun and wind this outcrop is the high point of a vast shelf hundreds of miles wide which tilts down gradually toward the east in the central plateau and the gravel Plains The Rock layers begin to disappear beneath the surface in the south and east to the gulf the same Rock layers are buried deep under gravel salt Plains and blankets of [Music] sand thus through millions of years much of the evidence of geological history in Saudi Arabia has become hidden the face of the Eastern province guides many of the arching Rock structures or traps that may hold reservoirs of oil only science can locate them oil exploration begins with surface mapping aerial photography covers large areas in a short time finding patterns that the eye on the ground cannot see stereo photographs reveal height or depth as well as length and width from such surface patterns come Clues to what may be underneath unseen as in a puzzle the pieces fit together connecting one set of Clues with another in a larger pattern on such a photographic Mosaic the oil geologists spot some traces a broken circle of low-lying rock enclosing a basin several miles wide this shallow arching formation IND Ates a structure far beneath which may hold oil now the geologist must examine these surface features more [Music] closely in exploring for oil a man must possess a knowledge of geology physics and chemistry technical experience patience and endurance from an outcrop the geologist picks Clues fossil marks indicate the age of the rock its grain color and texture show that it is porous [Music] Limestone now the geologist measures what he can see the exact position of the outcrop and the Basin all measurements go to the map makers they transform notes and numbers into a series of mathematical portraits of the area its size and shape and rock formation now they know the surface of the structure but they need more knowledge facts about the Earth far underneath the Explorers must visualize what they cannot see they measure the magnetic attraction of the Hidden Rock and gain possible Clues to rock composition and depth they measure gravity and find Clues to the density of the rock below but neither of these methods gives a final answer the Explorers must turn to other techniques in this search there is little rest even less certainty what [Music] stbe to 5105 how does you look from top side B this is it slip face okay [Music] [Music] the Explorers now prepare to shake the Earth and make it give up more and deeper Secrets what they cannot see they can hear this man-made earthquake sends out shock waves these are the techniques of [Music] seismology the crew spaces out electronic ears at regular [Music] intervals the seismic Observer prepares to record the surface explosion together with its Echoes from deep in the ground [Music] the shock waves bounce back from the layers of [Music] rock now the geologist can see what he has heard shock waves travel through some kinds of rock faster than through others and they bounce or bend back more strongly from this record the geologist begins to learn what kinds of rock the layers contain How deep the layers lie and how they slope up or down this is the result of a shock wave of electronics mathematics and research a profile of the rock layers hidden deep below it tells the Explorers they may be on the track it suggests a dome or arching rock structure which may hold oil now the Explorers begin to confirm by eye what their seismograph has heard this technique is known as structure drilling they drill shallow holes to determine directly the order of the rock layers below and the way they slope these are their tools a portable rig weighing many tons a camp that has taken weeks to plan and move a group of three dozen men geologists drilling technicians and assistants the organization Behind These explorers has invented new techniques to speed and improve the work of the drill the laboratory devises a special formula of chemicals the result is a controlled drilling [Music] mud the mud goes down through the drill pipe and comes up between the drill pipe and the side of the hole it carries up fragments of Telltale Rock from the mud the crew strains a sample of rocks one bag for every 5 ft of depth now the geologist can see and touch the actual rock that is hidden below the first appearance of a certain fossil at a specific depth tells the geologist the age of the rock formation he can now estimate how much farther down may be a layer that may contain oil [Music] here Cretaceous [Music] the drill also brings up Columns of rock crosssections of the Earth from all the evidence the Explorers are able to connect the rock formation below with what they have seen in the outcrop hundreds of miles to the West [Music] what they suspected they now confirm not oil itself but a combination of rock layers which suggests that farther below is the kind of structure that sometimes contains oil in Saudi Arabia over the years by drilling more than a thousand shallow holes to reveal the Earth's structure the explo have determined the areas in which oil is likely to be found back at headquarters they study what they have observed now the Explorers prepare to put their knowledge to a final test they add all their findings together they weigh the risk the cost of drilling a deep well for oil the sum of their findings tips the scales the rock structure far beneath this outcrop and Basin seems to hold a promise the chances of success seem good enough headquarters decides to drill for [Music] [Applause] oil now comes the big drilling rig months and months perhaps years of exploring looking listening thinking all lead up to this in a new unproven area not every exploratory well will find oil and of those that do find oil not everyone will produce it in profitable quantities the Wildcat drill goes slow and deep at about 7,000 ft the drill reaches the porous layer that the Explorers think may contain oil cut with salt water eh a no right they're getting close the geologist recheck the findings of surface mappings of the seismograph and the structure drill Meine eosine Cretaceous Jurassic they have found Salt Water containing some oil they add this knowledge to all their findings they may have struck the edge of an oil deposit the rock structure they are seeking is there but a slight variation in its position seems probable unlike Theory nature is not in perfect order like the land as a whole the structure here is set out of line they try again this time they find [Music] oil the drilling rig is moved away and the Oil Well is ready for production in two decades Saudi Arabia has produced more than 4 billion barrels of oil oil explorers have proved that more than 10 times as much oil remains below a reserve for the future oil by itself has little value until men refine and use it until they release the energy the sun stored within it millions of years [Music] ago in this land men once looked only for the water and grass that kept them alive [Music] Now using the instruments of science they search beneath the Earth for something more [Music] [Music] in their search for the dark and hidden liquid that holds the power of the Sun the Explorer's job can never end [Music] [Music] l