您现在的位置: Language Tips> Audio & Video> Special Speed News  
 





 
Petroleum: A short history of black gold
[ 2007-11-23 09:58 ]

 

Download

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

With oil around one hundred dollars a barrel, this may be a good time for a short history of petroleum.

Petroleum has been important since ancient times. The Greek historian Herodotus told of its use in the form of pitch for building and road making in the ancient city of Babylon in present-day Iraq.

In Latin, the name means "rock oil." Petroleum is a fossil fuel. The liquid comes from the remains of plants and animals that died millions of years ago. These remains were buried deep below levels of rock over time and under great pressure.

This geological process created complex molecules of hydrogen and carbon. Oil can also contain other elements. Crude oil, or unprocessed petroleum, is called sour when it contains a lot of sulfur, an impurity. Sour crude requires more refining than sweet crude, which is low in sulfur and, as a result, often more valuable.

The modern history of oil started in the middle of the 1800s. At that time, a method was found to make kerosene fuel from petroleum. This kind of fuel became popular for heating and lighting.

Edwin Drake drilled the first oil well in the United States in 1859 near Titusville, Pennsylvania. John D. Rockefeller John D. Rockefeller

In the early 1860s, John D. Rockefeller entered the oil business. Rockefeller and his partners understood the power of controlling all levels of production. By 1870, Rockefeller and his partners formed the Standard Oil Company.

Standard Oil and other companies that it owned performed every level of production -- from drilling to refining to transporting and selling. But in its efforts to grow, Standard Oil was strongly criticized for crushing smaller competitors.

Finally, in 1911, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Standard Oil was misusing its powerful market position. The ruling divided Standard Oil into thirty-four independent companies.

Today, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron are some of the companies whose roots go back to the breakup of Standard Oil. They are among the largest publicly traded companies in the world.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Our history of petroleum continues next week. That includes a look at the history of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, better known as OPEC. Transcripts and MP3 archives of our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

(Source: VOA 英语点津姗姗编辑)

 
 
相关文章 Related Stories
 

 

 

 
 

本频道最新推荐

     
  Petroleum: A short history of black gold
  Bush phones service members on Thanksgiving
  Pilgrims face competition in Thanksgiving lessons
  Growing number of female world leaders emerging
  《百万美元宝贝》精讲之一

论坛热贴

     
  “重色轻友”怎么说
  求教The Yellow Brick Road 能否翻译为"康砖大道"?
  How to say 正版软件?
  请教“80后”怎么说?
  “铁板烧”=?
  Six ways to stop dwelling on it(e-c)practice