Editing Petroleum (section)

==Use==
In terms of volume, most petroleum is converted into fuels for combustion engines.  In terms of value, petroleum underpins the petrochemical industry, which includes many high value products such as pharmaceuticals and plastics.

===Fuels and lubricants===
Petroleum is used mostly, by volume, for refining into [[fuel oil]] and gasoline, both important ''[[primary energy]]'' sources. 84% by volume of the hydrocarbons present in petroleum is converted into fuels, including gasoline, diesel, jet, heating, and other fuel oils, and [[liquefied petroleum gas]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Crude oil is made into different fuels |url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/non-renewable/oil.html#Howused |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823080443/http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/non-renewable/oil.html |archive-date=August 23, 2009 |access-date=August 29, 2010 |publisher=Eia.doe.gov}}</ref>

Due to its high [[energy density]], easy transportability and [[oil reserves|relative abundance]], oil has become the world's most important source of energy since the mid-1950s. Petroleum is also the raw material for many [[chemical]] products, including [[pharmaceutical]]s, [[solvent]]s, [[fertilizer]]s, [[pesticide]]s, and plastics; the 16 percent not used for energy production is converted into these other materials. Petroleum is found in [[porous]] [[rock formations]] in the upper [[strata]] of some areas of the [[Earth's crust]]. There is also petroleum in [[tar sands|oil sands (tar sands)]]. Known [[oil reserves]] are typically estimated at 190&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup> (1.2 [[1000000000000 (number)|trillion]] [[long and short scales|(short scale)]] [[barrel (unit)|barrels]]) without oil sands,<ref>{{Cite web |title=EIA reserves estimates |url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/reserves.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830033649/http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/reserves.html |archive-date=August 30, 2010 |access-date=August 29, 2010 |publisher=Eia.doe.gov}}</ref> or 595&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup> (3.74&nbsp;trillion barrels) with oil sands.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 14, 2006 |title=CERA report on total world oil |url=http://www.cera.com/aspx/cda/public1/news/pressReleases/pressReleaseDetails.aspx?CID=8444 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125004643/http://www.cera.com/aspx/cda/public1/news/pressReleases/pressReleaseDetails.aspx?CID=8444 |archive-date=November 25, 2010 |access-date=August 29, 2010 |publisher=Cera.com}}</ref> Consumption is currently around {{convert|84|Moilbbl}} per day, or 4.9&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup> per year, yielding a remaining oil supply of only about 120 years, if current demand remains static.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Peak oil: Does it really matter? |url=https://www.oilandgasmiddleeast.com/article-8400-peak-oil-does-it-really-matter |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406204626/https://www.oilandgasmiddleeast.com/article-8400-peak-oil-does-it-really-matter |archive-date=April 6, 2020 |access-date=April 6, 2020 |website=Oil & Gas Middle East |date=February 3, 2011 |language=en}}</ref> More recent studies, however, put the number at around 50 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Energy Alternatives and the Future of Oil and Gas in the Gulf |url=http://studies.aljazeera.net/en/dossiers/2015/03/201533183514675179.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406204625/https://studies.aljazeera.net/en/dossiers/2015/03/201533183514675179.html |archive-date=April 6, 2020 |access-date=April 6, 2020 |website=Al Jazeera Center for Studies |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=July 14, 2014 |title=How long will world's oil reserves last? 53 years, says BP |work=Christian Science Monitor |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2014/0714/How-long-will-world-s-oil-reserves-last-53-years-says-BP |url-status=live |access-date=April 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406204616/https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2014/0714/How-long-will-world-s-oil-reserves-last-53-years-says-BP |archive-date=April 6, 2020 |issn=0882-7729}}</ref>

Closely related to fuels for combustion engines are [[Lubricant]]s, [[Grease (lubricant)|greases]], and [[viscosity]] stabilizers.  All are derived from petroleum.

===Chemicals===
{{Further|Petroleum product| Petrochemical}}
[[File:Alkene General Formula V.1.svg|thumb|General structure of an [[alkene]]]]
Many [[pharmaceutical]]s are derived from petroleum, albeit via multistep processes.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} Modern medicine depends on petroleum as a source of building blocks, [[reagent]]s, and [[solvent]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=21778473 |date=2011 |last1=Hess |first1=J. |last2=Bednarz |first2=D. |last3=Bae |first3=J. |last4=Pierce |first4=J. |title=Petroleum and health care: Evaluating and managing health care's vulnerability to petroleum supply shifts |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=101 |issue=9 |pages=1568–1579 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2011.300233 |pmc=3154246 }}</ref> Similarly, virtually all pesticides - [[insecticide]]s, herbicides, etc. - are derived from petroleum.  Pesticides have profoundly affected life expectancies by controlling disease vectors and by increasing yields of crops.  Like pharmaceuticals, pesticides are in essence petrochemicals. Almost all plastics and synthetic polymers are derived from petroleum, which is the source of monomers. [[Alkenes]] (olefins) are one important class of these precursor molecules.

===Other derivatives===
[[File:Bitumen.jpg|thumb|Natural [[bitumen]], commonly referred to as Asphalt]] 
*[[Wax]], used in the packaging of [[frozen food]]s, among others, [[Paraffin wax]], derived from petroleum oil.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ferris |first1=S. W. |last2=Cowles |first2=H. C. |last3=Henderson |first3=L. M. |date=November 1, 1929 |title=Composition of Paraffin Wax |url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ie50239a029 |journal=Industrial & Engineering Chemistry |language=en |volume=21 |issue=11 |pages=1090–1092 |doi=10.1021/ie50239a029 |issn=0019-7866}}</ref>
* [[Sulfur]] and its derivative [[sulfuric acid]]. Hydrogen sulfide is a product of [[Hydrodesulfurization|sulfur removal]] from petroleum fraction.  It is oxidized to elemental sulfur and then to sulfuric acid.
* Bulk [[tar]] and [[Bitumen|Asphalt]]
* [[Petroleum coke]], used in speciality carbon products or as solid fuel