Crude oil, hydrocarbons and alkanes

• Crude oil is a finite resource that is found in the Earth’s crust and is the remains of organisms that lived and died millions of years ago, mainly plankton which was buried in mud.
• Crude oil is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons, mainly alkanes, formed over millions of years from the remains of ancient dead marine organisms.
• Crude oil is an important source of fuels, which are materials that are used to produce heat, like coal, oil or gas.
• Crude oil is also an important feedstock, which is a raw material used to provide reactants for an industrial reaction.
• A feedstock is a raw material used to provide reactants for an industrial reaction.
• A petrochemical is a substance made from crude oil using chemical reactions.
• Ethene is produced from crude oil and is used as feedstock to make poly(ethene), a polymer.
• Other useful substances made from compounds found in crude oil include solvents, lubricants, and detergents.