Petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum (pronunciation: /pəˈtroʊliəm/), also known as crude oil and oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid found in geological formations beneath the Earth's surface. It is commonly refined into various types of fuels.
Etymology
The word petroleum comes from Medieval Latin petroleum (literally "rock oil"), which is derived from Latin petra, "rock", (from Greek πέτρα, petra, "rock") and Latin oleum, "oil", (from Greek ἔλαιον, elaion, "oil").
Related Terms
- Hydrocarbon: An organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Petroleum is primarily composed of hydrocarbons.
- Fossil Fuel: A natural fuel such as coal or gas, formed in the geological past from the remains of living organisms. Petroleum is a type of fossil fuel.
- Refinery: An industrial process plant where crude oil is transformed and refined into more useful products such as petroleum naphtha, gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas.
- Drilling: The process of creating holes by perforating the earth's surface, to extract oil or natural gas. Drilling is the first step in petroleum extraction.
- Fracking: A process in which fluid is injected into the ground at high pressure to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas or oil. Fracking is often used to extract petroleum from the ground.
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Petroleum
- Wikipedia's article - Petroleum
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