PETROLEUM
ecosystems through events such as oil spills. Concern over the depletion of the earth's
finite reserves of oil, and the effect this would have on a society dependent on it, is a
field known as peak oil.
Etymology
The word "petroleum" comes from Greek: πέτρα (petra) for rock and Greek: ἔλαιον
(elaion) for oil. The term was found (in the spelling "petraoleum") in 10th-century Old
English sources. It was used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in 1546 by
the German mineralogist Georg Bauer, also known as Georgius Agricola. In the 19th
century, the term "petroleum" was frequently used to refer to mineral oils produced by
distillation from mined organic solids such as cannel coal (and later oil shale), and
refined oils produced from them; in the United Kingdom, storage (and later transport) of
these oils were regulated by a series of Petroleum Acts, from the Petroleum Act 1862
onwards.
Composition
annaabi.ee 
