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The oil industry is a type of industry which brings petroleum to a market. Petroleum is often considered the lifeblood of nearly all other industry, if not industrialized civilization itself and thus is a highly prominent and critical concern for many nations. Oil accounts for 40% of the United States' energy supply and a comparable percentage of the world’s energy supply. The world at large consumes 30 billion barrels (4.8 km³) per year, 25% of which is consumed in the United States alone. Image File history File links Wiki_letter_w. ... Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario Petroleum (from Greek petra – rock and elaion – oil or Latin oleum – oil ) or crude oil is a black, dark brown or greenish liquid found in porous rock formations in the earth. ... A market is, as defined in economics, a social arrangement that allows buyers and sellers to discover information and carry out a voluntary exchange. ... Cities are a major hallmark of human civilization. ... The barrel is the name of several units of measurement. ...

History

Oil in general has been used since early human history to keep fires ablaze, and also for warfare. Its importance in the world economy evolved slowly. Wood and coal were used for heating and cooking, while whale oil was used for lighting. Whale oil however, burned to produce a black, smelly, thick residue known as tar or rock oil. History is often used as a generic term for information about the past, such as in geologic history of the Earth. When used as the name of a field of study, history refers to the study and interpretation of the record of human societies. ... For other uses of War, see War (disambiguation). ... This article needs to be updated. ... A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is derived from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ... Coal (previously referred to as pitcoal or seacoal) is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by underground mining or open-pit mining (surface mining). ... Cooking is an act of preparing food for eating. ... Whale oil is the oil obtained from the blubber of various species of whales of the genus Balaena, as , Greenland or right whale (northern whale-oil), (southern whale-oil), Balaenoptera longimana, Balaenoptera borealis (Finback oil, Finner whale-oil, Humpback oil). ... Lighting refers to either artificial light sources such as lamps or to natural illumination of interiors from daylight. ... Tar is a viscous black liquid derived from the destructive distillation of organic matter. ... Naphtha is a group of various volatile flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixtures used chiefly as solvents. ...

The Industrial Revolution generated an increasing need for energy which was fuelled mainly by coal. However, it was discovered that kerosene could be extracted from crude oil and used as a light and heating fuel. Petroleum was in great demand by the end of the 1800s, and its use spread. A Watt steam engine in Madrid. ... Coal (previously referred to as pitcoal or seacoal) is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by underground mining or open-pit mining (surface mining). ... Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario Petroleum (from Greek petra – rock and elaion – oil or Latin oleum – oil ) or crude oil is a thick, dark brown or greenish liquid. ...

Infrastructure

The petroleum industry can be divided into two broad groups: upstream producers (exploration, development and production of crude oil, alan wallis or natural gas)and downstream transporters (tanker, Pipeline transport), refiners, retailers, and consumers. Oil companies are generally categorized as "supermajors" (BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Shell), "majors," and "independents" or "jobbers." Most upstream work in the oil field or on an oil well is contracted out to drilling contractors and oil field service companies. A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. ... An elevated section of the Alaska Pipeline Pipeline transport is a transportation of goods through a tube. ... View of Shell Oil Refinery in Martinez, California. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... BP plc (LSE: BP, NYSE: BP, TYO: 5051 ), originally British Petroleum, is a British energy company with headquarters in London, one of four vertically integrated private sector oil, natural gas, and petrol (gasoline) supermajors in the world. ... Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is one of the worlds largest global energy companies. ... Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), headquartered in Irving, a suburb of Dallas, Texas, is the largest publicly traded integrated oil and gas company in the world, formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. ... ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is an international energy company with its headquarters located in Houston. ... Royal Dutch Shell PLC is a multinational oil company of Anglo Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest energy corporations in the world, and one of the five supermajors (vertically integrated private-sector oil, natural gas, and petrol (gasoline) companies). ... Drilling rig in a small oil field Near Sarnia, Ontario, 2001 An oil field is an area with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum (oil) from below ground. ... An oil well is a term for any perforation through the Earths surface designed to find and release both petroleum oil and gas hydrocarbons. ... A contract is a promise or an agreement that is enforced or recognized by the law. ...

Impact

Petroleum is a non-renewable natural resource and the industry is faced with the spectre of the inevitable eventual depletion of the world's oil supply. By the very definition of non-renewable resources, oil exploration alone will not stave off future shortages of the resource. Resource economists argue that oil prices will rise as demand increases relative to supply, and that this will spur further exploration and development. However, this process will not increase the amount of oil in the ground, but will rather temporarily prolong production as higher prices make it economical to extract oil that was previously not economically recoverable. The Hubbert peak theory, also known as peak oil, is an influential theory concerning the long-term rate of conventional oil production and depletion. Wyoming coal mine. ... Oil Exploration is the search by petroleum geologists for hydrocarbon deposits beneath the Earths surface. ... The Hubbert peak theory, also known as peak oil, is an influential theory concerning the long-term rate of conventional oil (and other fossil fuel) extraction and depletion. ...

References

• Robert Sobel The Money Manias: The Eras of Great Speculation in America, 1770-1970 (1973) reprinted (2000).
• Daniel Yergin, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power, (Simon and Schuster 1991; paperback, 1993), ISBN 0-671-79932-0.
• Matthew R. Simmons, Twilight in the Desert The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy, John Wiley & Sons, 2005, ISBN 0-471-73876-X.
• Matthew Yeomans, Oil: Anatomy of an Industry (New Press, 2004), ISBN 1-56584-885-3.

Robert Sobel in a promotional photo for his publisher. ... Daniel H. Yergin (born February 6, 1947) is an American author and economic researcher. ... The Prize (1991; ISBN 0671502484) is Daniel Yergins 800-page history of the global oil industry from the 1850s through 1990. ...

See also

• Abiogenic petroleum origin
• OPEC
• List of oil fields
• List of oil-producing states
• List of petroleum companies
• Energy crisis: 1973 energy crisis, 1979 energy crisis
• Fossil fuel
• Greenhouse gases.
• Future energy development
• Oil imperialism
• Oil price increases of 2004
• Oil price increases of 2005
• Oil refinery
• Oil depot
• Oil supplies
• Oil well
• Olduvai theory (not strictly about oil, but it basically assumes that oil and gas are the only significant energy sources)
• Peak oil
• Petrobras
• Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.
• Petroleum disasters
• Renewable energy
• Thermal depolymerization
• Oilpatch, the petroleum industry of Alberta, Canada