Why is oil a fossil feul?

Answer 1

Oil comes from buried and decomposed organic material that originates from dead plants and animals, millions of years old.

Some confusion exists because by one definition, a fossil can be animal or plant that has been preserved as it existed millions of years ago. You probably think of fossils as they are displayed in museums.

However, this is not the only definition. As with the fossil fuels, a fossil can be considered the transformed remains of buried animal or plant life from a distant geological age that is recovered. This would apply to gas, oil and coal.

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Answer 2

Oil is considered a fossil fuel because it is formed from the remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago. Over time, these organic materials were buried and subjected to heat and pressure, transforming them into oil reserves. This process of oil formation takes hundreds of thousands to millions of years, making it a non-renewable resource.