A new approach to the problem of the origin of oil and source beds of petroleum is made by an experimental study of the deposition of oil as a sediment. Oil dispersed in a mixture of fine-grained sediment and sea water will settle and be trapped on the bottom by the sediment. Experimental observations are made on the oil-settling characteristics of a series of 10 different sediments, which represent a wide range of possible source beds of petroleum. Comparative results of the volume of oil that one gram of each sediment can completely carry down and trap in an oil sediment-sea water mixture are tabulated. This volume of oil deposited varies considerably throughout the series of sediments studied, and is generally found to be inversely proportional to the size of the miner l grains. Microscopic examination of the oil sediment shows that the oil is carried down by the weight of mineral grains adhering to the globules.