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Oil field in California, 1938. The modern history of petroleum began in the nineteenth century with the refining of paraffin from crude oil. The Scottish chemist James Young in 1847 noticed a natural petroleum seepage in the Riddings colliery at Alfreton, Derbyshire from which he distilled a light thin oil suitable for use as lamp oil, at the same time obtaining a thicker oil suitable for ...
Samuel Martin Kier (July 19, 1813 – October 6, 1874) was an American inventor and businessman who is credited with founding the American petroleum refining industry. He was the first person in the United States to refine crude oil into kerosene lamp oil. [1] Kier has been dubbed the Grandfather of the American Oil Industry by historians. [2]
Most California crude oil in the early years was turned into the less lucrative products of fuel oil and asphalt. Oil production in the Los Angeles Basin started with the discovery of the Brea-Olinda Oil Field in 1880, and continued with the development of the Los Angeles City Oil Field in 1893, the Beverly Hills Oil Field in 1900, the Salt ...
In the 1800s, the principal refined product was kerosene for illuminating oil. The heaviest fraction was used as lubricating oil. A market developed for fuel oil as it was discovered that petroleum was superior to coal in powering the large engines of ships and railroad locomotives.
One highly refined form of the fuel is known as RP-1, and is often burned with liquid oxygen as rocket fuel. These fuel grade kerosenes meet specifications for smoke points and freeze points. The combustion reaction can be approximated as follows, with the molecular formula C 12 H 26 :
In 2012 California produced 197 million bbl (31 million m 3) of crude oil, out of the total 2,375 million bbl (378 million m 3) of oil produced in the US, representing 8.3% of national production. [2] California drilling operations and oil production are concentrated primarily in Kern County, San Joaquin Valley and the Los Angeles basin.
Petroleum [a] is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture. It consists mainly of hydrocarbons, [1] and is found in geological formations.The term petroleum refers both to naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil, as well as to petroleum products that consist of refined crude oil.
Coined from Medieval Latin, the word petroleum (L. petra, rock + oleum, oil) initially denoted types of mineral oil derived from rocks and stones. [7] [8] In Britain, Petrol was a refined mineral oil product marketed as a solvent from the 1870s by the British wholesaler Carless Refining and Marketing Ltd. [9]