Petroleum products are useful materials derived from crude oil (petroleum) as it is processed in oil refineries. Nodding donkey pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario, 2001 Petroleum (from Greek petra – rock and oleum – oil), crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish flammable liquid, which exists in the upper strata of some areas of the Earths crust. ... View of the Shell/Valero Martinez oil refinery An oil refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into useful petroleum products. ...

According to crude oil composition and demand, refineries can produce different shares of petroleum products. Largest share of oil products is used as energy carriers: various grades of fuel oil and gasoline. Refineries also produce other chemicals, some of which are used in chemical processes to produce plastics and other useful materials. Since petroleum often contains a couple of percent sulfur, large quantities are sulfur are also often produced as a petroleum product. Carbon and hydrogen may also be produced as petroleum products. The hydrogen produced is often used as an intermediate product for other oil refinery processes such as hydrogen catalytic cracking (hydrocracking) and hydrodesulfurization. Nodding donkey pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario, 2001 Petroleum (from Latin petrus – rock and oleum – oil), mineral oil, or crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish flammable liquid, which exists in the upper strata of some areas of the Earths... Petrol (gasoline in the United States and Canada) is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting primarily of hydrocarbons, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ... A chemical substance is any material substance used in or obtained by a process in chemistry: A chemical compound is a substance consisting of two or more chemical elements that are chemically combined in fixed proportions. ... The term plastics covers a range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic condensation or polymerization products that can be molded or extruded into objects or films or fibers. ... General Name, Symbol, Number sulfur, S, 16 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 16 (VIA), 3, p Density, Hardness 1960 kg/m3, 2 Appearance Lemon yellow at STP Atomic properties Atomic weight 32. ... General Name, Symbol, Number Carbon, C, 6 Chemical series Nonmetals Group, Period, Block 14 (IVA), 2, p Density, Hardness 2267 kg/m3 0. ... General Name, Symbol, Number Hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1 (IA), 1 , s Density, Hardness 0. ...

See also

Petrochemicals A petrochemical is any chemical derived from fossil fuel. ...