Oil and natural gas were formed from the remains of prehistoric plants and animals, and that’s why they’re called fossil fuels.
This happened millions of years ago when plant and animal remains settled into the sea bed along with salt, silt and rocks.
In AD 300, while drilling for brine, the Chinese accidentally came across natural gas, and learned how to extract it and use it.
From the 9th century BC, people of the Middle East burned tarry bitumen, which they found seeping from the Earth’s surface. In 1908, oil was found near the city of Masjed Soleiman, in Iran by a British prospecting team funded by William D’Arcy. This event significantly changed the history of the Middle East.
The demand for petrol increased after the invention of the combustion engine and vehicles driven by petrol engines.
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