You probably don’t think much about the fuel oil you use during your day to day life. You don’t think about it until it becomes hard to get. We use fuel oil for many different areas of our daily lives. It’s used for power in our cars, heating our homes and powering appliances and machines. Have you ever wondered where all this oil is coming from?

Fuel oil is derived from fossil fuels. Fossil fuel, to put it bluntly, is the material left from the decomposition of living organisms. These living organisms have been buried deep in the earth for millions of years. The earliest oil wells were in China around 347 A.D. Oil pits were near Babylon around 4 thousand years ago and asphalt was made using the oil. Asphalt was used on the buildings of Babylon. Little by little, more uses for this oil were discovered. It was discovered that oil was flammable and a good source of heat for cooking and warmth. Whale oil was also used for this purpose.

The demand for fuel oil increased with the spread of oil lamps and the invention of the combustible engine. Not much thought was given to the amount of fossil fuel available for consumption until the energy crisis of the 1970’s when many people began to realize that fossil fuel was not an infinite source of energy. It was realized that there will come and end to the supply of fossil fuel. Different sources of energy needed to be found.

Fossil fuel is found almost in every country. Did you know the top 3 oil producing countries are Russia, the United States and Saudi Arabia? There are also fossil fuel reserves in Venezuela. The Middle East supplies about 80% of all readily available oil. 90% of all the fuel used in today’s vehicles is met with the use of oil. And 40% of all energy usage in the United States is petroleum.
Many different kinds of energy sources are being investigated to relieve the dependency on fossil fuel. Solar energy, energy from the wind, water generated power and electric powers are all viable options. In the meantime, manufacturers of cars and other engines that need fuel oil are working to become more energy efficient. Not only does this help stretch the fossil fuel reserves we have but cuts the costs to the consumer.