Oil began to form millions of years ago. This process started with the tiny plants and animals that lived in the earth's oceans. When they died, they sank to the bottom of the sea and rotted. Then, they were covered by other things, including rock, which sometimes pushed them deep into the earth. For millions of years, the chemistry of those tiny animals and plants changed. Hydrogen and carbon came together and made hydrocarbons. When that happened, oil and natural gas were formed.
Oil can be found under the earth's surface but it is not easy to find. So, modern technology must be used. For example, information from satellite pictures helps to make geological maps. These show the rock structures under the surface of the earth. Also, When vibrations are made by explosions at the earth's surface, they can be measured by special instruments. In this way, the shapes, sizes and types of rocks under the ground are shown. Other methods are also used in order to find where oil may be.
There are several likely places where oil may be found. These include deep under the sea, under the desert or under the ice and snow. However, there is only one way to be sure that there is oil in a certain place. Special drills must go deep underground and extract samples of the earth from there. If there are oil and gas, the drills bring them up, too.
When crude oil and gas come from the ground, they are mixed with many other sub-stances. These can be solids, liquids and gases. Before the oil and gas can be used, unwanted substances must be removed at a refinery. In a few hours, refineries produce several pure substances, such as petrol for cars and butane gas for cooking.
Oil products have become part of our daily life. Clothes, plastic toys, cars. roads, furniture and building all contain hydrocarbons. Our lives would be very different without them.
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