Petroleum (L. petroleum, from Greek, lit. "rock oil") or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.
Crude oil price varies in appearance depending on its composition.
It is usually black or dark brown (although it may be yellowish or even greenish).
In the reservoir it is usually found in association with natural gas, which being lighter forms a gas cap over the crude oil, and saline water which, being heavier than most forms of crude oil, generally sinks beneath it.
Crude oil may also be found in semi-solid form mixed with sand and water, as in the Athabasca oil sands in Canada, where it is usually referred to as crude bitumen. In Canada, bitumen is considered a sticky, tar-like form of crude oil which is so thick and heavy that it must be heated or diluted before it will flow. Venezuela also has large amounts of oil in the Orinoco oil sands, although the hydrocarbons trapped in them are more fluid than in Canada and are usually called extra heavy crude oil. These oil sands resources are called unconventional oil to distinguish them from crude oil which can be extracted using traditional oil well methods.
Between them, Canada and Venezuela contain an estimated 3.6 trillion barrels (570?109 m3) of bitumen and extra-heavy oil, about twice the volume of the world's reserves of conventional oil.
