Energy Sources

Crude Oil

Also Known As Petroleum

Fossil Fuel

Citation Formats

General Reference

Energy Atlas. "Crude Oil." Accessed August 29, 2026. https://dev-energy.interactiveatlas.org/energy-sources/crude-oil.

APA Style

Energy Atlas. (n.d.). Crude Oil. Retrieved August 29, 2026, from https://dev-energy.interactiveatlas.org/energy-sources/crude-oil

BibTeX

@misc{energyatlas-crude-oil,
  author = {Energy Atlas},
  title = {Crude Oil},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-energy.interactiveatlas.org/energy-sources/crude-oil},
  note = {Accessed August 29, 2026}
}

A naturally occurring liquid mixture of hydrocarbons, refined into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and petrochemical feedstocks. The modern oil industry dates from the first purpose-drilled commercial wells of the 1850s, and oil remains the largest single source of world primary energy, dominating transport above all.

Facts

Source Class

Fossil fuel 1

First Commercial Year

1859 2

The Drake well at Titusville, Pennsylvania, drilled in 1859, is the conventional marker for the birth of the modern oil industry; earlier hand-dug and drilled wells existed, including at Baku and in Ontario.

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

1973 Oil Crisis

Source International Energy Agency Official Site

American Petroleum Institute

Source American Petroleum Institute Official Site

Biofuels

Source United States Energy Information Administration Official Site

Deepwater Horizon Disaster

Source United States Environmental Protection Agency Official Site

Oil Sands

Source Oil Sands Magazine

Additional Source Natural Resources CanadaOil Sands Extraction and Processing, Upgrading

Oil Shale

Source Wikipedia

OPEC

Source OPEC Official Site

OPEC Founded in Baghdad

Source EBSCO Research Starters

Rudolf Diesel

The diesel engine bound heavy transport to petroleum fuels for over a century.

Source Encyclopedia Britannica

Saudi Aramco

Source Wikipedia

Spindletop Gusher

Source Handbook of Texas Online

Used By

Trans-Alaska Pipeline System

Source Alyeska Pipeline Service Company Site

Sources

1. United States Energy Information Administration Official Site

US Energy Information AdministrationView the Source

1. United States Energy Information Administration Official Site

US Energy Information AdministrationAssociated With: Biofuels, Biofuels explained

Quote, Associated With: Biofuels, Biofuels explained

Most biofuel consumption occurs as a blend with refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, and kerosene-type jet fuel.

View the Source

2. Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.View the Source

OPEC Official Site

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting CountriesAssociated With: OPECView the Source

International Energy Agency Official Site

International Energy AgencyAssociated With: 1973 Oil CrisisView the Source

Natural Resources Canada

Government of CanadaAssociated With: Oil Sands, Oil Sands Extraction and Processing, Upgrading

Quote, Associated With: Oil Sands, Oil Sands Extraction and Processing, Upgrading

The purpose of upgrading is to transform bitumen into synthetic crude oil (SCO) which can be refined and marketed as consumer products such as diesel and gasoline.

View the Source

Handbook of Texas Online

Texas State Historical AssociationAssociated With: Spindletop Gusher, Handbook of Texas, Spindletop Oilfield

Quote, Associated With: Spindletop Gusher, Handbook of Texas, Spindletop Oilfield

marked the birth of the modern petroleum industry

View the Source

EBSCO Research Starters

EBSCO Information ServicesAssociated With: OPEC Founded in Baghdad, Research Starters, OPEC Founded, Overview

Quote, Associated With: OPEC Founded in Baghdad, Research Starters, OPEC Founded, Overview

The oil companies kept the price of crude oil low in order to minimize their payments

View the Source

United States Environmental Protection Agency Official Site

United States Environmental Protection AgencyAssociated With: Deepwater Horizon Disaster, Enforcement, Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Spill

Quote, Associated With: Deepwater Horizon Disaster, Enforcement, Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Spill

the largest spill of oil in the history of marine oil drilling operations. Four million barrels of oil flowed from the damaged Macondo well

View the Source

Wikipedia

Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Saudi Aramco, Saudi Aramco, lead

Quote, Associated With: Saudi Aramco, Saudi Aramco, lead

the world's largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 270 billion barrels

View the Source

Wikipedia

Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Oil Shale, Geology

Quote, Associated With: Oil Shale, Geology

Oil shale differs from bitumen-impregnated rocks...such as oil sands and petroleum reservoir rocks...heat and pressure have not (yet) transformed the kerogen in oil shale into petroleum.

View the Source

American Petroleum Institute Official Site

American Petroleum InstituteAssociated With: American Petroleum Institute, About API

Quote, Associated With: American Petroleum Institute, About API