35 Interesting Facts about Petroleum Products

Petrol sniffing to get high is a big problem among Australian aborigines. Opal, a special gasoline, is sold in aborigine areas to discourage sniffing; although it requires a government subsidy, doing so saves money compared to the cost of treating petrol sniffing.

27. Petrol was provided by the government of Turkmenistan to its citizens for free up until 2014. Every citizen was given a monthly allowance of 120 liters of free petrol.

28. Jet Fuel (Jet A) can be used in diesel engines.

29. Kerosene lamps around the world consume 77 billion liters of fuel/year. This is equivalent to all of the Jet fuel consumed in the US during the same time period.

30. Petroleum oil was first distilled by the Persian alchemist Muhammad ibn Zakarīya (Rhazes) in the 9th century, producing chemicals such as kerosene.

World War 1 planes used Castor Oil as an engine lubricant and the Pilots suffered from persistent diarrhea due to unburnt castor oil coming out of the exhaust.

32. In 2011, the average salary for an oil rig worker was almost $100,000.

33. In 2009, a blackout-drunk trader named Steve Perkins managed to buy $520 million in oil futures, causing the price of oil to spike.

34. The US didn't profit from Iraq's Oil, in fact, the US spent billions on their oil infrastructure while Iraq reaped the profits.

35. It took 23.5 tonnes of ancient, buried plants to produce 1 liter of petrol.