What is oil?
Petroleum oil is formed over millions of years deep under the ground from the remnants of forests and from a mixture of comparatively volatile liquid hydrocarbons (compounds composed mainly of hydrogen and carbon with some nitrogen, sulphur, and oxygen) that occurs in the Earth's crust. While it is a naturally occurring substance, it can be highly toxic and it burns fiercely.
Oil is petroleum in any form including crude oil, fuel oil, sludge and refined products such as diesel and kerosene.
Oil is used as fuel to run many types of engines for cars, planes, ships, tractors and trucks, and is also used to generate a large portion of the world's electrical-power supply. Petrochemicals derived from petroleum are the base for solvents, paints, plastics, synthetic rubber and fibres, soaps and cleansing agents, waxes and jellies, explosives, and fertilisers. Asphalt from petroleum is used to surface roads and highways. Petroleum is also used as a lubricant in a great variety of machines
