TL;DR Summary: Why does crude oil seep out of the ground on this beautiful Caribbean Island?
It may be due to shallow deposits of organic matter - formerly marine plants and animals that were buried in the sediment, then that sediment formation is gradually subducted under the Caribbean Plate. There may be some thermal effects as well. The oil/gas may be squeezed out of formation by hydraulic pressure, and the oil/gas is much less dense than the surrounding sedimentary rock.
Note that Venezuela is a oil/gas producer and Guyana has off-shore oil/gas deposits.
Georgetown, Guyana is only about 435 miles (700 km) from Barbados, and the north western coast is closer.
Further to the NW of Guyana and closer to Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago also have oil and gas deposits offshore. https://ngc.co.tt/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/energy-map-of-tnt-2023.pdf
I think it is from the same underlying formation that produces the Venezuelan oil, on the same plate.
Uplift and erosion of Barbados has removed the cap-rock that confined the oil. As salt water sinks, hydrostatic pressure pushes oil upwards, to appear at the surface.
#6
OmCheeto
Gold Member
2,415
3,082
Ha! For the first few minutes of the video, I thought it was some mansplaining type thing with the ballcapped mc in the corner. But a few minutes later, I was like, "WOW! I think this guy may have a Phd."