One of many tanks at a refinery in Philadelphia, PA.	J.C. Steinly home heating oil company in Perkasie, PA.

To find oil and natural gas, companies drill through the earth to the deposits deep below the surface. The oil and natural gas are then pumped from below the ground by oil rigs. Then the fuels often travel through pipelines. The oil can come from Alaska or other countries.

Oil is brought to Pennsylvania by large tanker ships. The petroleum or crude oil must be changed or refined into other products before it can be used. Oil is stored in large tanks until it is sent to various places to be used.

There are thousands of other products that come from oil including fertilizers for farms and some of the fabrics in the clothes you wear. Almost all plastics come from oil. Can you think of some things made from oil?

At oil refineries, crude oil is split into various types of products by heating the thick black oil. The products include gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, home heating oil, oil for ships, and oil to burn in power plants in order to make electricity.