> Such a convenient energy resource would have likely been used up before we arrived, had there been an industrial civilization before. Isn't the earth crust c

> Such a convenient energy resource would have likely been used up before we arrived, had there been an industrial civilization before. Isn't the earth crust constantly moving, so new petroleum reservoirs are constantly formed and other destroyed as dispersed liquid hydrocarbons move and migrate in reservoirs? So even if a civilization depleted its reserves, then new reservoirs would be available once the crust has moved enough? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_reservoir#Formation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_reservoir#Formation