Crude oil chemical formula：Crude oil | Definition

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crude oil, liquid petroleum[1] that is found accumulated[2] in various porous rock formations in Earth’s[3] crust and is extracted for burning as fuel or for processing into chemical products.

A summary treatment of crude oil follows. For full treatment, see petroleum[4], petroleum production[5], and petroleum refining[6].

Chemical and physical properties

Crude oil is a mixture of comparatively volatile liquid hydrocarbons[7] (compounds composed mainly of hydrogen[8] and carbon[9]), though it also contains some nitrogen[10], sulfur[11], and oxygen[12]. Those elements form a large variety of complex molecular structures, some of which cannot be readily identified. Regardless of variations, howe...