During the course of a radio appearance I made on January 29 (BYU Radio’s “Top of Mind” program hosted by Julie Rose) I was reminded of just how little most Americans really understand about oil and gas in general, and how the gasoline or diesel they use in their cars is manufactured and delivered to their local gas stations.
That’s not a criticism of ordinary Americans, because 98% of them have no real need to understand such things in the course of their lives, and our system of education does almost nothing to educate them about this particular topic. Nor is it a criticism of Ms. Rose, who herself is extremely knowledgeable, but poses questions she knows most of her listeners are wondering about.
Given all of that, I have endeavored here to put together seven key things to know about oil and gasoline that might help the average person better understand this key element in their daily lives:
- Where does Gasoline come from? – Gasoline is one of many products derived from crude oil at oil refineries. One good way to think of crude oil is as a complex soup with all kinds of ingredients floating around in it. The refining process basically takes the crude oil soup that comes up out of the ground through oil wells and separates all those ingredients out of it. Gasoline is like the noodles in your chicken vegetable soup.