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Petroleum or crude oil, also referred to as simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrogencarbons, [1] and is found in geological formations. The name petroleum covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil and petroleum products that consist of refined crude oil.
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 ...
A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence of high heat and pressure in the Earth's crust. Reservoirs are broadly classified as conventional ...
A map of world oil production (2013) Oil-producing countries (information from 2006 to 2012) This article includes a chart representing proven reserves, production, consumption, exports and imports of oil by country.
Petroleum has been a major industry in the United States since the 1859 Pennsylvania oil rush around Titusville, Pennsylvania. Commonly characterized as "Big Oil", the industry includes exploration, production, refining, transportation, and marketing of oil and natural gas products. [1] The leading crude oil-producing areas in the United States ...
The three most quoted oil products are North America 's West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), North Sea Brent Crude, and the UAE Dubai Crude, and their pricing is used as a barometer for the entire petroleum industry, although, in total, there are 46 key oil exporting countries. Brent Crude is typically priced at about $2 over the WTI Spot price ...
However, 94 % of known oil is concentrated in fewer than 1500 giant and major fields. [2] Most of the world's largest oilfields are located in the Middle East, but there are also supergiant (>10 billion bbls) oilfields in Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, and Russia. Amounts listed below, in billions of barrels, are the estimated ultimate ...
The proven oil reserves in Venezuela are recognized as the largest in the world, totaling 300 billion barrels (4.8 × 10 10 m 3) as of 1 January 2014. [1] The 2019 edition of the BP Statistical Review of World Energy reports the total proved reserves of 303.3 billion barrels for Venezuela (slightly more than Saudi Arabia's 297.7 billion barrels).