石油(petroleum)，亦称原油（crude oil）。

是烃类的复杂混合物，来源於地质变化和生活在几亿年前的动植物遗体的分解。以液态（原油）、气态（天然气）或固态（烟煤、沥青）的形式存在於地球。石油和天然气是最重要的主要化石燃料。沥青自古以来就用来防止船漏水和铺路。19世纪中期，石油在电灯照明方面开始取代鲸油，1859年第一口专门的油井开掘了。汽车的发展使石油成为汽油来源，扮演了新的角色。石油和其产品自此开始用作加热燃料，提供陆地、空中和海洋的运输燃料，为发电和石油化学产品来源，还用作润滑剂。原油和天然气多产自沙乌地阿拉伯、美国和俄罗斯，现在占有世界能源消耗量的约60%，美国是到目前为止最大的消费者。照目前消耗的速度，已知用量会在21世纪中期消耗殆尽。石油透过钻井开采，再透过管道或油轮运输到精炼厂，在那儿转变为燃料和石化产品。

English version：

petroleum

Complex mixture of hydrocarbons derived from the geological transformation and decomposition of plants and animals that lived hundreds of millions of years ago. It occurs in the earth in liquid (crude oil), gaseous (natural gas), or solid (bituminous coal, asphalt) forms. Petroleum and natural gas are the most important primary fossil fuels. Asphalt has been used since ancient times to caulk ships and pave roads. In the mid-1800s, oil began to replace whale oil in lamps, and the first well specifically for oil was drilled in 1859. The development of the automobile gave petroleum a new role as the source of gasoline. Petroleum and its products have since been used as fuels for heating, for land, air, and sea transport, and for electrical power generation, and as petrochemical sources and lubricants. Crude oil and natural gas, produced mostly in Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and Russia, now account for about 60% of world energy consumption; the U.S. is by far the largest consumer. At present rates of consumption, the known supply will be exhausted by the mid-21st century. Petroleum is recovered from drilled wells, transported by pipeline or tanker ship to refineries, and there converted to fuels and petrochemicals.

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