ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Petroleum industry

The petroleum industry is all about getting oil and gas from deep underground so we can use them for lots of different things like gasoline for cars, heating oil for homes, and even plastic things like toys and water bottles.

First, people have to find oil and gas deposits by using special tools to look for them deep beneath the Earth's surface. Once they find them, they drill down into the ground with big machines that look like monsters. Sometimes they have to go very deep – deeper than the height of 10 Eiffel Towers stacked on top of each other!

Then, they use other machines to pump the oil and gas out of the ground and bring it to the surface. They also have to separate the oil from water, dirt, and other things that might be mixed in.

After that, they send the oil and gas to special factories where they can be turned into useful things we need in our everyday lives. But the oil can't be used right away because it's too thick and sticky, so it has to be refined first. That means they use special chemicals to clean it and break it down into different parts.

Finally, they can use those parts to make all kinds of useful things like gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, lubricants, and more. They even use it to make plastics, like the toys we play with and the water bottles we drink from.

But we have to be careful with the petroleum industry because burning too much oil and gas can harm the environment, such as our air and water. So we need to find ways to use it responsibly and look for other ways to power the things we need.