petroleum
Also known as crude oil, black gold, oil, raw oil, pampetro, petrol oil, fossil-oil, conventional oil
Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term petroleum refers both to naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil, as well as to petroleum products that consist of refined crude oil.
AI overview
Petroleum is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid found underground that is made up mainly of chemical compounds called hydrocarbons. It's important because it can be refined into many different products that people use, and the term "petroleum" refers to both the raw crude oil as it comes from the ground and the useful products made from refining it.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Research
536,555 papers- Petroleum Intoxication: Literature Review and Case Report on Poisoning by Gasoline.ReviewSoudni lekarstvi · 2020Maria-Valeria K, Stylianos T, Vasiliki P et al.
- Diesel-degradation by indigenous bacteria of petroleum-contaminated soils.International microbiology : the official journal of the Spanish Society for Microbiology · 2025Pakdel S, Agha ABA, Sharifi R et al.DOI: 10.1007/s10123-024-00616-5
- Ecosystem effects and the management of petroleum-contaminated soils on subantarctic islands.ReviewChemosphere · 2018Errington I, King CK, Wilkins D et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.11.157
- Potential hazards associated with combustion of bio-derived versus petroleum-derived diesel fuel.ReviewCritical reviews in toxicology · 2012Bünger J, Krahl J, Schröder O et al.
Article
52 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Early
- 19th century
- 20th century
- 21st century
- Composition
- Formation
- Fossil petroleum
- Anaerobic decay
- Kerogen formation
- Transformation of kerogen into fossil fuels
- Oil window (temperature range)
- Abiogenic petroleum
- Reservoirs
- Unconventional oil reservoirs
- Classification
- Use
- Fuels and lubricants
- Chemicals
- Other derivatives
- Industry
- Transport
- Price
- Trade
- Use by country
- Consumption statistics
- Consumption
- Production
- Exportation
- Importation
- Non-producing consumers
- Environmental effects
- Climate
- Extraction
- Oil spills
- Tarballs
- Whales
- Alternatives
- International relations
- Corruption
- Conflict
- OPEC
- Future production
- Peak oil
- Unconventional oil
- Hydrocarbons on other worlds
- In fiction
- See also
- Explanatory footnotes
- Citations
- External links
Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term petroleum refers both to naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil, as well as to petroleum products that consist of refined crude oil.
Petroleum is a fossil fuel formed over millions of years from anaerobic decay of organic materials from buried prehistoric organisms, particularly planktons and algae. It is estimated that 70% of the world's oil deposits were formed during the Mesozoic, 20% were formed in the Cenozoic, and only 10% were formed in the Paleozoic. Conventional reserves of petroleum are primarily recovered by drilling, which is done after a study of the relevant structural geology, analysis of the sedimentary basin, and characterization of the petroleum reservoir. There are also unconventional reserves such as oil sands and oil shale which are recovered by other means such as fracking.