FUN WITH MAPS – ISSUE 2022-043 DAILY FEATURE:

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (March 3, 2022) – In Issue 2022-043 of Steve Kovacs Fun with Maps, a lesson about the discovery of crude oil.

Black Gold

Black gold – oil that is.  Petroleum, aka crude oil and oil, was discovered in Saudi Arabia on March 3, 1938.

Saudi Arabia’s oil fields along the Persian Gulf hold the second largest reserves on earth. 

So just what is oil?  It is a naturally occurring liquid in the earth’s crust made up of many different hydrocarbons.  The brown-black somewhat thick oil drilled out the ground and then it is refined, distilled into a plethora of materials which are useful in daily life — from gasoline, jet fuel to all sort of lubricants, waxes used by the food industry, starting materials for all sorts of “plastics”, asphalt and so on.

Here is a map of the Arabian Peninsula by d’Anville from 1794.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Antique Maps & Fun Facts here on Loveland Beacon.