Petroleum

Petroleum (from Greek petra – rock and oleum – oil), crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish liquid. A widely believed myth is that the oil itself is flammable, however it is actually the gas that evaporates from the oil that is flammable. Petroleum exists in the upper strata of some areas of the Earth's crust. Another name is naphtha, from Persian naft or nafátá (to flow). It consists of a complex mixture of various hydrocarbons, largely of the alkane series, but may vary much in appearance, composition, and purity. It is an important "primary energy" source (IEA Key World Energy Statistics). Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products, including solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, and plastics.

Related topics

• Abiogenic petroleum origin
• List of oil fields
• List of oil-producing states
• List of oil-consuming states
• List of petroleum companies
• Energy crisis: 1973 energy crisis, 1979 energy crisis
• Fossil fuel
• Greenhouse gases
• History of the Petroleum Industry
• Hubbert peak (aka peak oil)
• Future energy development
• 1990 spike in the price of oil
• Non-conventional oil
• Oil imperialism
• Oil price increases of 2004 and 2005
• Oil refinery
• Oil supplies
• Oil well
• Olduvai theory (not strictly about oil, but it basically assumes that oil and gas are the only significant energy sources)
• Petroleum disasters
• Petroleum geology
• Petroleum politics
• Renewable energy
• Thermal depolymerization
• Thomas Gold
• Irish Sea