Various industries are in need of oil. Thus, fuel oil products are considered a necessity across industries. The demand for oil products in various industries and locations such as Oklahoma created another industry to produce them, making oil drilling equipment and tools useful for such production. Some of the industries that use oil need crude oil from which they derive the burnable liquids called kerosene, diesel fuel, home heating oil, or coal oil.
Different Uses of Oil
Oil is used from the most basic home necessities to the complex production of power. Here are some of the general uses of oil:
- Domestic use. Our homes need oil to make it comfortable and functional. Oil is needed to run home-heating equipment to keep the place comfortable in the middle of winter. Some of these pieces of equipment are furnaces and boilers that are most helpful in keeping your home a livable place during extreme weather conditions. Oil is also used for lighting home through lamps and lanterns. They can also provide the needed heat for cooking such as in stoves. Also, the use of oil can avoid power interruption in households. Power interruption can lead to other problems in the household such as food spoilage, heating or air conditioning losses, security system failure, and failure of other electrical devices.
- Commercial use. Businesses need oil for production. Manufacturing of products and delivery of services requires energy such as fueling trucks for delivery and running equipment for manufacturing goods. Oil can also be used for generating electricity especially for emergency generators because power outages will hamper the production flow. To avoid losses caused by power interruptions, generators can help secure the consistent flow of electricity.
- Industrial use. Oil is needed to produce steam for industrial use. It is also needed for different types of machinery to function. It could be mining, quarrying, medical, or any other industrial machinery, oil is still needed.
- Agricultural use. When agriculture is industrialized, it consumes a lot of oil. It is used to run an irrigation system, to use motorized transportation means, and in the production of fertilizers that made mass agriculture possible. Oil is also necessary for the use of vehicles for off-road and use of machinery like harvesters and other equipment for farming. This demand for oil in the agriculture industry made it the second most important resource next to water.
- Production of plastics and other chemical industries. Production of plastics consumes as much as three to four percent of global oil production. Though there are advanced countries that use natural gas liquids and petroleum for plastic production, there are a lot of countries that still use crude oil for the said manufacturing process. The production of plastics makes plastic bottles, jars, food containers, and cling film. Therefore, environmentalists are against plastics: it consumes too much oil, produces harmful materials like plastic, and the manufacturing process affects the environment negatively as well. Aside from plastic production, oil is also used in other industries that produce chemicals such as cosmetics, waxes, perfumes, shampoos, conditioners, shaving creams, detergents, and dyes.
Despite the high demand for oil, an alternative source of energy is also needed since oil is a non-renewable source and could be depleted in time. Whenever that would be, we should consider conserving the energy sources that we have now.
