Oil is the remains of ancient plants and animals, compressed deep in the earth into liquid strings of hydrogen and carbon. Ancient Greeks gave it the name petroleum, from the Greek “petra” meaning rock, and “oleum” meaning oil.The modern history of oil began in the 1840s, when a Canadian geologist discovered that crude oil could be distilled into kerosene to light lanterns but the heating oil industry truly began when the oil burner was invented to take advantage of crude oil discoveries in California.
