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What Is Petroleum?

Petroleum is a naturally occurring liquid mixture of hydrocarbons — crude oil, along with the natural gas often found with it — formed from the remains of ancient marine organisms buried in sedimentary rock and transformed by heat and pressure over millions of years.

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How petroleum forms

Petroleum begins as organic matter — mostly microscopic marine life — that settles into sediment and is buried. As layers pile on, rising heat and pressure over geologic time cook that organic material in a "source rock," converting it into hydrocarbons. Those hydrocarbons then migrate upward through porous rock until they are trapped beneath an impermeable layer, forming the reservoirs that wells produce from. Where the conditions were hotter, the result skews toward natural gas; cooler, toward oil.

This is why petroleum is a finite, non-renewable resource: it took millions of years to make, and reservoirs deplete as they are produced.

What comes out of it

Crude petroleum is a mixture, and refining separates it into products by boiling point — gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, heating oil, lubricants, asphalt, and the petrochemical feedstocks behind plastics and countless consumer goods. The natural gas produced alongside oil is processed separately into pipeline gas and liquids. For a mineral owner, what matters is that your minerals are the source of all of it — and your royalty is a share of the value of that raw petroleum as produced.

Related reading

What is natural gas?

Upstream oil & gas

Oil & gas royalties

Educational information only — not legal, tax, or investment advice. Consult a qualified attorney, CPA, or landman about your specific situation.

Frequently asked questions

What is petroleum?

A naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbons — crude oil and the natural gas found with it — formed from ancient marine organic matter buried in sedimentary rock and transformed by heat and pressure over millions of years.

How is petroleum formed?

Organic matter settles into sediment, is buried, and is cooked by heat and pressure in a source rock over geologic time into hydrocarbons, which migrate and collect in reservoirs trapped beneath impermeable rock. Hotter conditions favor gas; cooler, oil.

Is petroleum the same as oil?

Crude oil is the liquid form of petroleum, and "petroleum" is often used to mean crude oil. Strictly, petroleum refers to the whole naturally occurring hydrocarbon mixture, including the natural gas commonly produced with the oil.

Does Buckhead Energy buy mineral and royalty interests?

Yes — Buckhead Energy is a direct buyer of mineral, royalty, NPRI, and ORRI interests across the United States, producing or non-producing. Buckhead Energy makes a free written offer, pays the title and closing costs, and charges no broker commission.

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Buckhead Energy buys mineral and royalty interests across all 50 states and has completed acquisitions in 33 states. Buckhead Energy is a direct buyer, not a broker — we purchase mineral and royalty interests with our own capital. Buckhead Energy has been buying mineral and royalty interests since 2006. Buckhead Energy holds an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

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