 |
 |
 |
Although we can trace
the beginnings of oil itself to several million years ago, the oil industry is
a comparatively recent development ...
Petroleum
literally means 'rock oil'. It is the second most abundant liquid on Earth.
Oil and gas also provide two-thirds of the world's primary energy supplies.
Oil and gas are also non-renewable
resources and our use of them has increased so much that we have
worries about how long they will last. However, improved technology in the oil
and gas industry now means that each year we are finding more oil in the world
than we are using.
First coal and now petroleum (which includes oil and gas) have played an essential
role in changing
our society from an agricultural to an industrial one. It is almost
impossible to find any synthetic item where petroleum has not had any part in
the process of its manufacture.
Tyres, lubricants, plastics, paint, waxes, tars, cosmetics and synthetic textiles, as well as fuels for transport and power stations - modern life would be very different without oil!
The American Indians collected oil for medicines. The American settlers found
its presence in the water supplies a contamination, but they learned to collect
it to use as fuel in their lamps.
The uses to which oil could be put extended as the supply grew. The invention
of the internal
combustion engine meant that the petrol fraction of the oil mixture
was vital for transport. Then the blossoming of flight demanded fuel that could
best be supplied from oil.
In the 1940s the development of synthetic
materials (such as nylon and polythene) made from oil brought the
arrival of the plastics
industry - based on oil and gas as feedstocks.
It is no wonder that oil was called black gold and the discovery of oil and
gas could mean riches beyond belief.
Early uses
of oil
There is evidence that humans have used petroleum products throughout history.
Oil that had seeped to the surface would mostly evaporate and leave behind bitumen
- the tarry component of the mixture of hydrocarbons from which it is composed.
This has been used for thousands of years as a waterproofing agent, for plumbing,
boat building and brick bonding. There is reference to bitumen being used as a
coating for Moses' basket and Noah's Ark being 'pitched' inside and out with it.
The growth
of the petroleum industry
Petroleum oil became a valuable commodity in the nineteenth century. The whaling
industry was failing to provide enough whale oil to light the lamps of the world
and a new source was needed. The first oil well was drilled in August 1859 by
Edwin Drake
in Pennsylvania, starting a new era in our history.
| Oil is a fossil fuel. When we burn it, we are releasing energy first captured from the sun millions of years ago, by plankton (tiny prehistoric plant life), during the process of photosynthesis. |