ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Big Oil

Big oil refers to large corporations that produce and sell oil and gas, which is used to power many things like cars, airplanes, and factories. These companies are called big oil because they are really big and powerful, and they make a lot of money by selling oil and gas. Some of these big oil companies may be familiar to you, like ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, and Chevron.

Big oil companies explore for oil and gas in different parts of the world. They use big machines and teams of people to find oil and gas deep under the ground or in oceans. Once they find it, they extract it from the Earth and process it into things that can be used as fuel, like gasoline or diesel.

Big oil is very important to the world because it provides energy for all sorts of things that people use every day. But some people are concerned that using oil and gas contributes to pollution and climate change. This is because burning oil and gas releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which can cause global warming.

To address these concerns, big oil companies are working to find ways to reduce their impact on the environment. Some are investing in renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, while others are developing new technologies to make oil and gas production cleaner and more efficient.

So, big oil is a powerful and important industry that produces the fuel that we need to power our modern world, but also has some challenges to find ways to reduce the pollution and contribute to a healthier planet.