How long has petroleum been around?

Answer 1

27 years

Petroleum has been around for millions of years. The creation of petroleum starts with long dead forests which are covered and compressed under deep deep layers of earth for millions of years. This biomass is slowly converted into petroleum as the pressure and the heat at those depths eventually congeal the long dead components into their primal state as carbohydrates or carbon based chemistry. Even though this process takes millions of years it has oozed to the surface as pitch for millions of years.

The first commercial oil well in the United states was drilled and opened for business in Pennsylvania in 1859. Its potential then was to replace whale oil as a lamp fuel, and other products. Its strategic importance began after WWI when the first mechanized tanks and airplanes played a serious part in the Allied victory during that war. At that time the U.S. was a petroleum exporting country. Since then we are using oil in such quantities that we must import 40% of the oil we need from other countries such as Arabia, and the African countries too.

Answer 2

Fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) began their lives as organic matter more than 300 million years ago.)