"Drilling deep into the crystalline granite of Sweden between 1986 and 1993 revealed substantial amounts of natural gas and oil. 80 barrels of oil were pumped up from a depth between 5.2 km and 6.7 km. "
Gold conned the Swedes into testing out his pet theory concerning astroblemes (meteor impact sites) and the occurrence of petroleum hydrocarbons. Ask the Swedes what they think about Gold's "theory". Abiogenic methane, degassing from the mantle, is a well-recognized phenomenon. Gold believed that it was the major source and building block for more complex hydrocarbons - as compared to the well-developed process of petroleum catagenesis. Gold's claim of obtaining "substantial" oil and gas from crystalline rocks is a misnomer. The scant amount of petroleum hydrocarbons found in the Siljan Ring astrobleme complex were most likely generated from organic, sedimentary rocks adjacent to the impact site, which were subjected to instantaneous great heat and pressure (as compared to long-term maturation of petroleum source rocks). One would expect the pitifully small amount of petroleum Gold found - especially in light of the surface oil seeps found in the area. No one else has taken him up on his theories since then. He should stick to astronomy.
Note that I qualified my reply, as I'm not entirely sold on Gold's non-fossil fuel theories.
The fact that he's an astrophysicist, though, doesn't necessarily negate his earth science observations. I think some cross-pollination across disciplines, challenging the conventional wisdom and posing questions that aren't usually asked, is a healthy thing for science. In the specific area of hydrocarbons, for example, ascribing all gas and oil to ancient swamps and forests and dinosaurs may be satisfactory for petroleum engineers who are concerned only with finding it.
But when you take that to its ultimate, what does it say about the origins of methane in space? Did it get shaken off the Earth and sent flying in the same way meteorites are presumed to have gotten here from Mars?
Barring the infinitesimal chances of finding life elsewhere in the solar system, wouldn't the existence of hydrocarbons on other planets, should they be discovered in some future space probe, tend to make geologists want to rethink the conventional theories on gas and oil formation?