The dominant view of the origin of oil amongst western oil companies until 1969 was that it was due to the decay of living matter. Now other views are making themselves heard. To try and resolve the issue whether oil is biogenic (derived from living matter) or abiogenic (built up from primordial matter and therefore not from living matter) a Hedberg Conference recently took place. The issue was not resolved. This suggests that a third alternative is needed, especially as neither model fits into a young-earth scenario.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss those naturalistic models, show that there are severe problems with both models, and offer a robust alternative which respects the geochemistry of oil, the known geology of rocks involved in the process, the Creator's power, and the geological events surrounding the Noachian Flood. I have called it the "theobaric" model, meaning made by God. The oil existed in pristine state before the Flood, and moved during the Flood into the reservoirs where we now find it. This has interesting implications for Christian apologetics and the choice of Flood models.