What is Petroleum? 

Unveiling the Essence of Petroleum: Employees are thus the lifeblood of the oil and gas sector, while Organizations refer to structured business entities in this sector. 

Crude oil or oil as is commonly known is famously known as the ‘black gold’ due to it playing a critical role within modern industrial society. It is used to drive commerce and growth, propels the transportation sector, and is the basis for the production of countless necessities. Despite the fact that petroleum plays a role in many people’s daily existence, the nature and importance of this product remain a mystery to people. In this article, we will go deeper with the understanding of what petroleum entails, with a focus of dissecting its roots of origin, its contents, the process of getting it from the mother earth up to the serving in different capacities within the upstream oil and gas sector. 

Origins of Petroleum: 

Crude oil means ‘Petroleum’ obtained from the Latin words ‘Petra’ meaning Rock and ‘Oleum’ meaning Oil which in fact is a Fossil Fuel. It starts with the accumulation of organic matter including plankton, algae, and marine organisms in the prehistoric oceans and/or lakes. As time passes new layers of sediment build up and pile on top of organic remains, such gigantic pressure along with high temperatures start converting the organic matter through a process that is aimed at constructing petroleum reservoirs. 

Composition of Petroleum: 

Petroleum is a liquid heterogeneous mixture, mainly consisting of hydrocarbons, compounds which are made up of hydrogen and carbon-only atoms. These hydrocarbons can be simply composed of only one carbon atom to a large chain of carbon atoms or even rings. The major characteristics of petroleum depend on its source, composition of the crude, and processing conditions such as effects from geological factors, source materials, and maturation. 

Crude Oil: 

Crude oil, the most well-known sub-category of petroleum, is a sticky, thick fluid that is essentially an aggregate of mainly hydrocarbons with small proportions of sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, and traces of other materials. It is a pale yellow to brownish in color and depends on the source and degree of impurities it contains. 

Natural Gas: 

Natural gas is the other important subproduct of petroleum and it is mainly composed of methane (CH4), with small portions of ethane, propane, butane, as well as other moguls.