Why petroleum is called liquid gold?

Most of our regular commodities like chewing gum, Vaseline, shoes, mobile phones, including certain medicine pills, consists of a familiar material known as "plastic".

However, the origin of that plastic is crude oil.

Crude oil, also known as petroleum, is a natural fossil fuel that forms when organic matter is converted to hydrocarbons through an exposure to heat and pressure for several million years.

In the following paragraphs, we will revise the history of this precious commodity.

Then, we will examine the different ways in which it can serve the present society. 

The earlier civilizations made use of coal to create energy, which changed post-World War I.

During the early 20th century, Iran (formerly Persia) was the country where the first oil well was put to use for commercial purposes.

But after World War I (1914 – 1918), human beings realized the higher efficiency of crude oil over coal.

During the end of World War II (1939 - 1945), crude oil was put to use not just for defense purposes but also for general use in plastics, roads, fuel for cars and planes, etc.

During the 1950s, the world began to realize the rich deposits of crude oil in the Middle East regions.

The powerful nations began to desire a stable oil supply from these regions.

Consequently, the major proportion of the Middle East nations earned their independence.

They began to understand the true riches underlying beneath their territories.

Thus emerged the OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) organization which stabilizes and monitors oil trade activities.

The reason behind the heightened value of crude oil

Throughout the years, from its discovery to its present usage, crude oil has proved to be useful in many ways.

A single barrel of crude oil can offer the following privileges

1. Sufficient gas for a car to cover 450 kilometers or a giant truck to run for 64 kilometers.
2. Adequate amounts of tar, about 3.7 litres, to provide cover for roofs and roads.
3. About a litre of motor oil for automobile engines.
4. Makes about 540 toothbrushes from plastic.
4. Adequate remaining amount can help to make around 135 plastic rubber balls.

Crude oil has indefinitely influenced and formed the backbone of our present society.

But its limited amount in the natural reservoirs, raises questions about its future in the long run.

The contemporary transportation and manufacturing industries depend on crude oil for their activities.

The basic urban and metropolitan framework relies on this substance for their development.

However, the coronavirus pandemic has dropped crude oil prices to about $16 as in April 2020.

This price drop indicates the higher crude oil supply in comparison to its demand.

The importance of petroleum

Therefore, we have now seen that the diverse practical applications of crude oil contributes to society in many ways.

Petroleum is undoubtedly the “liquid gold” of our community for its applications in different real-life necessities.

Theoretically, the present social system might end up to a complete stand-still at the exhaustion of this resource.