NATIONAL PETROLEUM DAY –AUGUST 27

 

NATIONAL PETROLEUM DAY 

–AUGUST 27

National Petroleum day is celebrated annually on August 27 to mark the anniversary of the first successful commercial oil well drilled in the United States.At the end of the summer on August 27th, Americans celebrate National Petroleum Day.The day is celebrated by many working in the oil and gas industries, and used as a platform to gather and discuss the may issues that face the industry. Crude oil and other liquids produced from fossil fuels are refined into petroleum products that people use for many different purposes. Biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, are also used as petroleum products, mainly in mixtures with gasoline and diesel fuel

Petroleum was discovered by Edwin L. Drake on August 27, 1858 in Titusville, Pennsylvania. He struck oil 70 feet beneath the surface in Titusville, thus launching the modern-day petroleum industry in the USA. This event is very important for the history of Titusville, because since the discovery of crude oil the region became prosperous.Although used for many different types of product in many different industries, we need to consider the fact the world will eventually run out of petrol reserves and we therefore need to find kinder alternatives and substitutes. A highly contentious issue, this is a subject that we should not ignore and continue to learn more about.You could get involved in the day by considering what products you use in your lives that use petroleum and attempting to find kinder alternatives. You could also research more about the effect on the world our petroleum consumption has, and what is being done in your areas to minimise and risks.

Petroleum is used to power our cars, trucks, buses, generators, jets, boats, and motorcycles, to name just a few. It also makes over 6,000 products, including tires, fan belts, footballs, cameras, telephones, anti-freeze, car enamel, trash bags, and the list goes on and on. To say life without petroleum would be different than we know it would be quite the understatement. It would be a daily struggle.The discovery of petroleum in the United States happened on August 27th, 1859, when Edwin L. Drake struck oil 70 feet below the surface in Titusville, Pennsylvania — launching the modern-day U.S. petroleum industry.As a fossil fuel, hydrocarbons that were initially formed from the remains of ancient plants and animals make up petroleum. Millions of years of heat and pressure from underground acted on these hydrocarbons, turning them into petroleum.  Like coal and natural gas, petroleum is a non-renewable source of energy, and once extracted and consumed, it can’t be replaced.One day the world will reach it’s highest production level or “peak oil,” and our oil supplies will run out. Many experts believe this could occur as early as 2050.But for the here and now, let’s concentrate on the present and tip our hat to petroleum and the vital role it plays. To that end, the following are some interesting facts to know about this versatile substance that makes everyone’s world go round every day.Petroleum is a broad category that includes crude oil and petroleum products. The terms oil and petroleum are interchangeably used.

The word “petroleum” comes from the Latin petra, which means rock or stone and oleum, meaning oil.Petroleum formed more than 300 million years ago.The Sumerians, one of the earliest known civilizations, discovered petroleum on the banks on the Euphrates River and used it for numerous applications, including road building and waterproofingThe first use of the word petroleum was by a German mineralogist in 1556.Petroleum can occur in liquid, gaseous, or solid forms.Although petroleum has powered lighting and heat for thousands of years, it did not become a significant fuel source until after the Industrial Revolution.“Wildcatting,” a risky practice, is drilling for petroleum in an area where there are no proven oil reserves. A wildcat operation in rural California at the turn of the 20th century discovered substantial oil reserves, turning working-class miners into multi-millionaires.Extracting petroleum is an environmentally hazardous process and requires massive and sophisticated machinery. For land extractions, drilling and pumping need an oil rig. Offshore extractions are done by an oil platform, which is even larger and more complex than an oil rig.A little less than half of the world’s petroleum reserves are in the Middle East. But the amount of oil the reserves produce is only 30% of the amount produced globally.

A 42-gallon barrel of crude oil yields around 45 gallons of petroleum products because of “processing gain,” which occurs when the product of a material has a lower specific gravity than it did in its refined form.Refining petroleum is the process of converting crude oil into more useful products.One way of classifying petroleum is by its sulfur content. By this classification, one would describe petroleum as either “sweet” (low sulfur) or “sour” (high sulfur).In 2019, the United States consumed an average of 20.46 million barrels of petroleum per day or a total of about 7.47 billion barrels of petroleum products.Several environmentalists believe that to avoid severe global warming, 75 to 80% of the world’s current oil reserves should remain unused.

Prof. John Kurakar