what is petroleum 
petroleum also called crude oil is a naturally occurring liquid found beneath the earth s surface that can be refined into fuel a fossil fuel petroleum is created by the decomposition of organic matter over time and used as fuel to power vehicles heating units and machines and can be converted into plastics because the majority of the world relies on petroleum for many goods and services the petroleum industry is a major influence on world politics and the global economy understanding petroleumthe extraction and processing of petroleum and its availability is a driver of the world s economy and geopolitics many of the largest companies in the world are involved in the extraction and processing of petroleum or create petroleum based products including plastics fertilizers automobiles and airplanes petroleum is recovered by oil drilling and then refined and separated into different types of fuels petroleum contains hydrocarbons of different molecular weights and the denser the petroleum the more difficult it is to process and the less valuable it is investing in petroleum means investing in oil through the purchase of oil futures or options or indirect investing in exchanged traded funds etfs that invest in companies in the energy sector petroleum companies are divided into upstream midstream and downstream depending on the oil and gas company s position in the supply chain upstream oil and gas companies identify extract or produce raw materials downstream oil companies engage in the post production of crude oil and natural gas midstream oil and gas companies connect downstream and upstream companies by storing and transporting oil and other refined products pros and cons of petroleumpetroleum provides transportation heat light and plastics to global consumers it is easy to extract but is a non renewable limited supply source of energy petroleum has a high power ratio and is easy to transport however the extraction process and the byproducts of the use of petroleum are toxic to the environment underwater drilling may cause leaks and fracking can affect the water table carbon released into the atmosphere by using petroleum increases temperatures and is associated with global warming stable energy sourceeasily extractedvariety of useshigh power ratioeasily transportablecarbon emissions are toxic to the environment transportation can damage the environment extraction process is harmful to the environment the petroleum industryoil is classified into three categories including the geographic location where it was drilled its sulfur content and its api gravity its density measure geologists chemists and engineers research geographical structures that hold petroleum using seismic reflection a reservoir s oil in place that can be extracted and refined is that reservoir s oil reserves 1as of 2022 the top ranking countries for total oil reserves include venezuela with 303 8 billion barrels saudi arabia with 297 5 and canada holding 168 1 2drilling for oil includes developmental drilling where oil reserves have already been found exploratory drilling is conducted to search for new reserves and directional drilling is drilling vertically to a known source of oil investing in petroleumthe energy sector attracts investors who speculate on the demand for oil and fossil fuels and many oil and energy fund offerings consist of companies related to energy mutual funds like vanguard energy fund investor shares vgenx with holdings in conocophillips shell and marathon petroleum corporation 3 and the fidelity select natural gas fund fsngx holding enbridge and hess are two funds that invest in the energy sector and pay dividends oil and gas exchange traded funds etfs offer investors more direct and easier access to the often volatile energy market than many other alternatives three of the top rated oil and gas etfs for 2022 include the invesco dynamic energy exploration production etf pxe first trust natural gas etf fcg and ishares u s oil gas exploration production etf ieo 