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petroleum
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Multiple large offshore petroleum oil rigs with cranes and equipment stand in the ocean, connected by walkways above the water. Interactive map of oil reserves and total production throughout the world. Cross-sectional diagram showing three principal types of petroleum traps: an anticline trap with oil and gas beneath a cap rock, a fault trap where gas accumulates along a fault line, and a stratigraphic trap where gas is trapped in permeable limestone beneath impermeable rock layers. Labels identify geological features and fluid locations. Map showing oil pipelines originating from the Alberta tar sands in Canada, with routes extending south through the United States. The map uses different lines to distinguish existing pipelines, proposed Keystone XL routes (including an abandoned route through the Nebraska Sand Hills), and other proposed or existing pipelines such as Flanagan South, Seaway, and Enbridge Northern Gateway. The Alberta tar sands region is shaded in orange, and the Ogallala aquifer is marked in pink beneath parts of Thematic map showing the Arabian-Iranian basin region highlighted in purple, spanning parts of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, and Syria. Major oil fields, including supergiant fields such as Al-Ghawar, Kirkuk, and Ahvaz, are marked with black shapes within the basin. Major water bodies like the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, and Caspian Sea are labeled. Thematic map of Europe, Russia, Transcaucasia, and Central Asia highlighting major sedimentary basins in purple and marking the locations of major oil and gas fields, with triangles indicating supergiant and selected giant fields. The map shows regional seas, geographic features, and the distribution of hydrocarbon resources across northern Eurasia. Thematic map of North America showing major sedimentary basins shaded in purple and the locations of significant oil and gas fields, including supergiant and selected giant fields marked with symbols. The map highlights key regions such as the Gulf Coast, Alberta, Permian, Williston, and Prudhoe Bay, and includes both onshore and offshore areas. Oil production in Bahrain Colombia: oil refinery Oil pumpjack with a red counterweight operating in a snowy field in western Siberia, Russia, with industrial equipment and trees in the background.
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petroleum: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

General works on the origins of petroleum and the development of the petroleum industry include Norman J. Hyne, Nontechnical Guide to Petroleum Geology, Exploration, Drilling, & Production, 3rd ed. (2012); B.P. Tissot and D.H. Welte, Petroleum Formation and Occurrence, 2nd rev. and enlarged ed. (1984); and John M. Hunt, Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology, 2nd ed. (1996). Harold F. Williamson and Arnold R. Daum, The American Petroleum Industry: The Age of Illumination 1859–1899 (1959–63, reprinted 1981), is a classic source of information on the beginnings of the petroleum industry and the role of petroleum in the development of American industry.

Other treatments useful in assessing the availability of petroleum resources include Society of Petroleum Engineers, Guidelines for Application of the Petroleum Resources Management System (2011); International Energy Agency, Golden Rules for a Golden Age of Gas: World Energy Outlook Special Report on Unconventional Gas (2012); Ernest J. Moniz, Henry D. Jacoby, and Anthony J.M. Meggs, The Future of Natural Gas: An Interdisciplinary MIT Study (2011); and Marlan W. Downey, William A. Morgan, and Jack C. Threet (eds.), Petroleum Provinces of the Twenty-First Century (2001). Monthly, quarterly, and annual petroleum data is produced by the Energy Information Agency (EIA) in its International Energy Statistics series, which includes proven reserve and production data for oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and condensate. Each year maps, production figures, and geologic data are published by World Oil and the Oil & Gas Journal.

Priscilla G. McLeroy Joseph P. Riva Gordon I. Atwater The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

  • Priscilla G. McLeroy
    Professor and Director of the Undergraduate Program in Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station.
  • Gordon I. Atwater
  • Joseph P. Riva
  • The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
    Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Modified link of Web site: IOPscience - IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science - The Impacts of Petroleum on Environment. Oct 22, 2026
Add new Web site: IOPscience - IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science - The Impacts of Petroleum on Environment. Jun 09, 2026
Removed table; updated proven oil reserves of major oil producing countries. Mar 10, 2026
Added photograph and interactive. Jan 09, 2026
Add new Web site: Digital Commons at University of South Florida - Impacts of Petroleum, Petroleum Components, and Dispersants on Organisms and Populations (PDF). Aug 29, 2025
Add new Web site: National Energy Education Development Project - Petroleum (PDF). Jul 19, 2025
Add new Web site: UNESCO-EOLSS - Petroleum and its Products (PDF). May 23, 2025
Questions and answers added. Mar 17, 2025
Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Petroleum and Health Care: Evaluating and Managing Health Care's Vulnerability to Petroleum Supply Shifts. Dec 13, 2024
Add new Web site: Purdue University - College of Science - Chemical Education Division Groups - Petroleum and Coal. Jun 20, 2024
Link added. Aug 18, 2023
Add new Web site: U.S. Energy Information Administration - Oil and petroleum products explained. Jun 30, 2023
Add new Web site: Chemistry LibreTexts - Petroleum. Nov 28, 2022
Add new Web site: Digital Commons at University of Nebraska - The Solar The Solar Transformity of Petroleum Fuels (PDF). Sep 05, 2022
Add new Web site: National Geographic Society - Petroleum. Mar 07, 2022
Noted that the word petroleum may have originated with Persian philosopher-scientist Avicenna. Nov 22, 2021
Add new Web site: Science for Kids - Oil Facts. Jan 11, 2019
Add new Web site: Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences - Petroleum. Jan 11, 2019
Article thoroughly revised and updated. Feb 16, 2018
Bibliography thoroughly revised and updated. Feb 15, 2018
Add new Web site: Math/Science Nucleus - Petroleum. Dec 02, 2016
Add new Web site: Energy Kids - Oil. Aug 03, 2016
Figures on world and national oil production and reserves updated. Jul 18, 2012
Add assembly ID 153712 (asset ID 148079) to this WIP. May 19, 2011
Media added. Feb 24, 2011
Images added. Nov 19, 2010
Bibliography revised and updated. Nov 19, 2010
Article revised and updated. Nov 19, 2010
Updated geologic time data. May 25, 2010
Added new Web site: Arkansas Geological Survey - Oil. Nov 10, 2008
Added new Web site: California Energy Commission - Petroleum. Jan 23, 2008
Added new Web site: Energy Kids - Oil. Jan 22, 2008
Added new Web site: The Official Site of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Nov 21, 2007
Added new Web site: The Official Site of Oil India Limited. Nov 21, 2007
Article revised. May 31, 2002
Article added to new online database. Aug 23, 1998
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