What Is Crude Oil

What Is Crude Oil ?

There were few takers of the 19th century elixir that came to be called "snake oil." It was one of the less successful uses of petroleum, but not the first to claim healing properties. Ancient Persians, 10th century Sumatrans and pre-Columbian Indians all believed that crude oil had medicinal benefits. Marco Polo found it used in the Caspian Sea region to treat camels for mange, and the first oil exported from Venezuela (in 1539) was intended as a gout treatment for the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

The mysterious oil that sometimes seeped to the earth's surface had other uses as well. In Mesopotamia around 4000 B.C., bitumen - a tarry crude - was used as caulking for ships, a setting for jewels and mosaics, and an adhesive to secure weapon handles. Egyptians used it for embalming, and the walls of Babylon and the famed pyramids were held together with it. The Roman orator Cicero carried a crude-oil lamp. And, in North America, the Senecas and Iroquois used crude oil for body paint and for ceremonial fires.
Crude oil - as petroleum directly out of the ground is called - is a remarkably varied substance, both in its use and composition. It can be a straw-colored liquid or tar-black solid. Red, green and brown hues are not uncommon. The image of James Dean dripping with black oil from his Texas gusher in the 1956 movie "Giant" may have been compelling, but it's not descriptive of today's oil producers. For one thing, the days when a gusher signaled a big discovery are long gone. Since the 1930s, oil producers have used blowout preventers to stop gushers. In addition, not all crude oils behave in the Hollywood manner. Some flow about as well as cold peanut butter.
Until the late 19th century, an oil find often was met with disinterest or dismay. Pioneers who settled the American West dug wells to find water or brine, a source of salt; they were disappointed when they struck oil. ...

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