Despite the misconception that it comes from dinosaurs, crude oil forms when microorganisms, such as algae and plankton, are subjected to high pressure and high temperature while buried under layers of sediment.

Demystifying the claim that crude oil is inorganically created and a renewable resource

The abiogenic petroleum theory holds that fossil fuels originate in Earth's mantle and are constantly replenished, rather than formed by microorganisms over millions of years. While inorganic chemical processes can produce simple hydrocarbons, the range of complex molecules found in crude oil suggests an origin from a diverse set of organisms. Isotope analyses of these molecules also support the model that they originated from living things that preferentially take up certain isotopes over others.

An overview of crude oil, including its constituent hydrocarbons and refinement outputs

The mixture is primarily composed of molecules of carbon and hydrogen atoms bonded into a variety of shapes and lengths, giving each different chemical properties, such as boiling points. Refining can remove elemental impurities—such as sulfur—after hydrocarbons are separated, ensuring the resulting products can be used effectively in other machines, such as car engines.

To use the various chemicals in crude oil, they must often be cracked—broken down into smaller molecules—to make their processing easier in everyday machines.

View a sample of objects surprisingly derived from crude oil, including chewing gum and lipstick

Crude oil processing produces a variety of fuels and the building blocks for plastics, but it also distills out the hydrocarbons used to make aspirin, Teflon, vinyl, crayons, candles, Tupperware, roofing shingles, asphalt pavement, hair dye, anesthetics, food-grade lubricants, polyester, synthetic rubber, and resins for items like dentures.

Crude oil is the type of oil used to create fuel like gasoline, heating oil, and more

Technically speaking, crude oil is unrefined petroleum. This article dives into the different ways it’s categorized (by density, sulfur content, and origin), and how the combinations of these types of oil are used.

Oil and natural gas from fracking is considered unconventional

This method forcibly extracts fossil fuels from tightly packed rocks, where they form from organic matter that has undergone extreme heat and pressure. Conventional drilling, on the other hand, waits for the oil and gas to escape from shale and accumulate in more porous and permeable rocks, such as limestone.

The recorded history of crude oil use, starting with Babylonians waterproofing boats

The ancient civilization located in modern-day Iraq also used crude oil as mortar in construction, while the Egyptians used it to treat human remains during the mummification process. After the invention of the first motorcar in 1885 and the introduction of the affordable Model T in 1908, demand for crude oil skyrocketed.

Watch how plastic products are molded from pellets that began as crude oil

Polyethylene and other plastics are formed by combining ethylene and propylene, which are produced through refining crude oil. These plastics are broken down into pellets called nurdles, or mermaid tears, which are melted and molded to manufacture countless products.

View the 45 gallons of refined products created from each 42-gallon barrel of crude oil

More than 85% is refined into fuels, such as gasoline and diesel, while about 10% is converted into raw materials for plastics, synthetic rubbers, and other essential products, such as lubricants. Because the majority of these products are less dense than the starting crude oil and additional inputs are introduced during the refining process, there is a processing gain of three gallons.

See where the 100 million barrels of crude oil the world consumes daily end up.

Learn about unconventional ways to clean up crude oil, including using moss and chickens

Studies show that microorganisms in chicken manure can break down the hydrocarbons in crude oil without producing toxic by-products. Scientists have also explored avoiding the environmental risks of chemical dispersants and synthetic adsorbents by using human hair and peat moss to adsorb crude oil, which can be taken up by their cuticles and porous structures, respectively.

The separation of crude oil into petroleum products begins by boiling it in a distillation tower, where constituent hydrocarbons are separated into layers based on the temperatures at which they boil.

Understanding the causes and environmental impacts of crude oil spills and leaks

Although some oil regularly leaks from the bottom of the oceans through the gradual erosion of sedimentary rock, major spills result from accidental ruptures of pipelines or damage to transportation vessels or rigs. Oil can break down the water-repelling ability of feathers, remove the insulation of fur, and poison food chains if ingested.

The ins and outs of oil refining

The oil industry is broken up into the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments, and oil refining is part of the latter. “Downstream” refers to companies like Standard Oil that are converting crude oil into a finished product.

How microbes limited the damage and helped clean up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

A bloom estimated to contain about 100 sextillion microbial cells broke down much of the 4.1 million barrels of spilled crude oil into nontoxic compounds in what was one of the most significant bioremediations of a human-made disaster. The microbes involved acted similarly to the first patented genetically modified organism in US history: an oil-eating bacterium engineered in 1971.

How disruptions in oil markets can drive up the price of everyday goods

Most types of plastic are made from polymers derived from chemicals produced by the processing and refining of crude oil and natural gas. Spikes in the cost of either fossil fuel raise the cost of wrappings, tubs, and other plastic containers for products.

Fracking provides access to fossil fuel reserves locked in underground rock

Using a pressurized fluid mixture that is over 90% water, cracks are created in shale about 2 miles deep to release trapped oil and natural gas. The process uses an average of 3 to 6 million gallons of water per well, which can strain local water supplies.

Scientists have collected critical minerals from ocean water using seaweed, a type of algae that leaves behind a mineral-rich powder called bio-ore after being processed into biofuels.

How crude oil is split across oil markets based on geographic origin

Brent, West Texas Intermediate, and Dubai are the three crude oil classes and differ in terms of typical refinery uses, density, sulfur content, and suitability for financial benchmarking. Brent, which originates in the North Sea, is traders' go-to benchmark, in part, because it is easily shipped and politically stable, and used to price most of the crude sold internationally.

A guide to crude oil and natural gas extraction, from rig site preparation to land restoration

Requirements for traffic plans, access roads, and noise barriers vary by state and local laws, but once the rig site is prepared, the rig is assembled and digs a well that is then encased in steel and cement to protect groundwater reservoirs. After drilling and testing the extraction pipe, fracking fluid is injected into the rock to create cracks where crude oil resides, allowing it to be pumped out.

A case study of how engineers and geologists at Tullow Oil look for oil reserves

An analysis of surface rocks using aerial and satellite imagery can help narrow the search for crude oil by identifying basins where sedimentary layers have compacted—a key process in oil formation. Surveys that look for variations in Earth's gravitational and magnetic fields consistent with specific rock distributions, or that use sound waves reflected off rock layers—not unlike sonar underwater—can also help map subsurface geology.

Oil markets are seeing higher costs and lower prices amid tech breakthroughs

Experts say oil demand has not yet reached its peak. Recent technological breakthroughs in the oil industry include advances in drilling and extraction, as well as subsurface technologies.

Plastics don’t biodegrade because their chemical bonds are unnatural to microbes

Despite coming from petroleum, which itself comes from organic material, synthetic plastic was not mass-produced until the mid-20th century. Insufficient time has passed for microbes to develop the necessary enzymes to break it down naturally.

Unless prices of fossil fuels rise significantly, their production is expected to slow

US oil and natural gas production skyrocketed from 2000 to 2020, largely due to advances in fracking. However, weak global energy prices have prevented this boom from translating into increased profits for fossil fuel companies.

Trace the rise of oil: from early drilling to today’s global power

This animated map video vividly illustrates how petroleum shaped global politics and industry—from 18th-century uses and 19th-century drilling booms in North America to today’s OPEC strategies, shale revolution, and geopolitical oil influence.

Explore a timeline of US dependence on crude oil from 1850 to 2023

Oil dependence began with the rise of oil as a commodity, followed by an era of geopolitical competition for the resource after World War II. The domestic fracking boom, which started around 2006, was driven by a desire to reduce the nation's dependence on international adversaries for energy.

Decommissioned oil rigs have been repurposed into artificial reefs that serve as nursery habitats for fish, corals, sponges, and other invertebrates in the decades since their installation.

Diamonds have been made from substances such as peanut butter and carbon dioxide, though they can be created from any carbon-rich material under extreme pressure and temperature.

View a breakdown of worldwide oil production since 1900, mostly led by the US

When analyzing the production of crude oil, shale oil, oil sands, and condensates since the start of the 20th century, Saudi Arabia produced more crude oil only in 1977, from 1979 to 1981, and from 1991 to 2016. Nations such as Iraq and the United Arab Emirates produced much smaller quantities than both Saudi Arabia and the US.

Understanding why the US can't use its own crude oil and depends on global markets

Before advancements in fracking technology made lighter shale oil readily available, US refineries had been built and optimized for decades to process heavier oil from other countries with high profitability. Despite being able to refine lighter oil, US oil companies can operate with better margins by exporting it to other nations whose refineries are optimized for it and importing heavier oil, for which the US has the infrastructure.

About 10% of the world's crude oil and 32% of its natural gas is reached via fracking

Most of the world's shale oil resources—which are recoverable via fracking—are found in Russia, the US, China, Argentina, and Libya. The majority of equivalent shale gas resources are found in China, Argentina, Algeria, the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Oil prices have been volatile for decades

This explainer shows oil’s rollercoaster: OPEC-led embargoes in the 1970s, shale surges in the 2000s, and the US flip to becoming a net oil exporter in 2020.

Oil shocks, war, and the 1970s crisis that remade American energy and economics

The oil crises of the 1970s—fueled by Middle East conflict and OPEC's dominance—triggered inflation, price controls, and policy failure. But they also accelerated fracking, alternative energy, and the rise of free-market economics.

Molecules derived from algae can be found in foods such as ice cream, salad dressings, brownie mix, and gravies, as well as in products such as toothpaste, multivitamins, and egg substitutes.

Civilizations of the past mistook dinosaur fossils for dead mythological creatures

Without knowledge of evolution or extinction, people believed such fossils were the bones of massive animals no one had ever seen alive, including dragons and giants. It was not until the science of paleontology and studies of extinction that these ideas were overturned definitively.

Some algae have helped remove microplastics from water after being bioengineered to clump together with these contaminants, forming an easily collectible microplastic-algae sludge.

Dinosaurs thrived in the Arctic year round

The Arctic in the Cretaceous Period was a rough place to live, especially in winter. And yet, the fossils of many kinds of dinosaurs have been discovered there. So how were they able to survive in this harsh environment?

How a polluted New York City waterway created extremophiles hungry for 'black mayonnaise'

In the 19th century, coal processing plants, oil refineries, a tannery, and other industries lining the Gowanus Canal contaminated its waters with coal tar, sewage, and other pollutants, forming the toxic sludge. Samples taken from the site before clean-up efforts revealed over 450 species of microbes with metabolisms adapted to break down these contaminants.

Harmful algal blooms can occur in warm, nutrient-rich, stagnant waters and are often associated with the rapid reproduction of blue-green algae—a misnomer for cyanobacteria, not algae.

There are lots of weird ideas about dinosaur extinction, like hungry, hungry caterpillars

One of the great historical puzzles is this: why did the dinosaurs go extinct? Whether an asteroid, poison plants, volcanos and climate change, or something else, it's still a mystery. Scientists have been debating this question for almost a hundred years. One insect scholar suggests that caterpillars are the culprits.

The booming fossil industry on the Jurassic Coast

Ever since the Jurassic Coast was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2001, professional and amateur fossil-finders have increasingly set out for its craggly cliffs to discover ammonites, icthyosaurs, and even new discoveries. This photo essay takes a human look at the growing interest and industry in fossil discoveries along the famed 95-mile strip of England.

Explaining the engineering challenges of extracting metal-rich nodules from the seafloor

Proposed solutions for collecting these potato-shaped rocks involve lifting a slurry composed of them, organic debris, and water through several kilometers of flexible tubing to a ship on the surface, a process that is more difficult than pumping crude oil. One method would use compressed air, but this method is only 15% energy-efficient.

Artificial photosynthesis turns CO₂ into sustainable fuel

Carbon conversion focuses on a central perplexing question: if carbon dioxide is a leading driver of climate change, and fossil fuels are made of carbon-based molecules, can we devise a way to convert CO₂ into useful alternatives efficiently? This video breaks down a potential pathway using artificial photosynthesis, which uses sunlight to convert CO₂ into fuel.

The history of soap and how it forms bathtub scum and white spots in old oil paintings

Soap has been produced since at least 2,200 BCE via a chemical reaction between fats or oils and a base. This creates salts that act as molecular bridges, helping water lift dirt and grease from surfaces. The same chemistry produces scum when metals in hard water bind to soap molecules, as well as white spots in paintings when metal ions in pigments react with fatty acids in the oil binder.

The ancient uses of asphalt

Asphalt is derived from bitumen, a naturally occurring byproduct of decomposed organic materials. As one of the thickest forms of petroleum, the substance has been in use by humans and their ancestors for at least 40,000 years for various purposes, including as a sealant, an adhesive, decoration, and more. Learn more about this ancient material here.

Watch animations of the creation and excavation of dinosaur tracks

The discovery of a dinosaur trackway in the UK emerged from a controlled explosion that removed limestone from an Oxfordshire quarry. The footprints provide unique insights into dinosaur behavior and movement, with marine fossils suggesting a lagoon-like environment.

View a gallery of diatoms—algae surrounded by glass-like shells—captured via microscope.

Massive blooms of microscopic algae called dinoflagellates produce the neon blue light seen in glowing tides.

Whale falls—dead whales that have fallen to the ocean's floor—can provide enough food to spawn a local ecosystem of deep-sea organisms that lasts for decades.

The day the dinosaurs died

Roughly 66 million years ago, a giant meteor struck Earth off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. Some dinosaurs died in the immediate impact, which sent a 200-foot tsunami all the way up to what is now North Dakota. Many others perished in the resulting change in climate, with debris ejected into the global atmosphere. This 12-minute video provides an overview of what scientists have uncovered about the fateful day.