7 Surprising Facts You Didn’t Know About the Oil Industry

The oil industry is one of the most significant sectors on the planet. Oil fuels transportation, industrial processes, and petrochemical manufacturing – all things our society depends on for daily functioning. Oil operations influence the entire world in terms of environmental policies and everyone knows there’s money in oil. But there’s an interesting mix of facts that go on behind the scenes in this industry, and learning about these lesser-known aspects provides insight into the industry’s scale and complexity.

1. Most oil never gets recovered without advanced techniques

The way oil gets extracted from the Earth isn’t simple. Most of what’s trapped underground can’t be obtained with basic drilling. Only a fraction of the oil in a given reservoir is ever recovered from the average oil well without advanced methods.

Primary recovery uses pressure and basic pumping but only extracts about 10% of the available oil. Secondary recovery – like water injection – brings the amount recoverable to around 20% to 40%. Enhanced oil recovery methods like tertiary or improved oil recovery (IOR/EOR) can recover even more. Without these technologies, oil reserves would be much smaller and oil would be less accessible.

2. The U.S. holds more oil reserves than most think

The U.S. is home to the world’s largest emergency oil stockpile, known as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Located in salt caverns in Louisiana and Texas, this stockpile was started in 1975 after the 1973 oil embargo and can hold up to 714 million barrels. In 2025, the inventory was around 395 million barrels. Although that seems like a lot, the U.S. consumes just over 20 million barrels per day, making the current stockpile a 19-day supply.

3. Investment dynamics affect oil prices

Oil fields aren’t just set up once and left to work on their own. Production naturally declines and producers need to drill new wells constantly to maintain output. And when investment drops, so does production. That means oil prices get higher when investment drops regardless of demand.

4. The U.S. consumed more oil than most countries

Although it’s a global commodity, the U.S. consumes more oil than most other countries. Granted, the U.S. is much larger than many countries but it accounts for around 20% of global consumption.

5. Abandoned oil wells leak methane

Sometimes oil wells are abandoned without being plugged or decommissioned. These are called “orphan wells” and they leak methane continuously. Methane is a greenhouse gas and negatively impacts the environment. However, properly plugging or reclaiming these abandoned wells can cost tens of thousands or even millions of dollars per site.

6. Oil has been extracted for millennia

Oil extraction isn’t modern. It’s been part of human civilization for thousands of years. Long before industrial drilling operations existed, ancient civilizations drilled for oil. For example, in China, records show that as early as 600 BCE, people drilled deep wells using bamboo poles and bits reinforced with metal and reached depths of more than 800 feet.

Ancient Mesopotamians used naturally occurring bitumen as mortar, Egyptians used petroleum-based substances for mummification, and early Persians and Greeks used it medicinally. This history shows that oil has always been central to societies. The difference is now we can extract more of it with advanced technology.

7. Oil isn’t really stored in barrels

In the mid-19th century, oil was stored in whatever containers were available, and the most common container was a wooden barrel. Because they were easy to roll, barrels were commonly used to transport everything from alcohol and fish to gunpowder and grains.

One barrel is equal to 42 U.S. gallons (159 liters). Forty-two gallons was the typical size of a whiskey barrel. It was small enough to be moved by two people but large enough to store a good amount of whiskey.

Although oil is still measured in terms of barrels, it’s no longer stored in wooden barrels. Wooden barrels were phased out because they leak, the wood absorbs the oil, they’re flammable, and are heavy when full. Storing oil in non-flammable containers became necessary as oil production increased. Today, oil is stored in pipeline systems and metal tanks.

The oil industry is complex

Some people view the oil sector as necessary infrastructure while others see it as an environmental liability. No matter how you see it, understanding the lesser-known facts will give you the context needed to more accurately assess energy policy and climate arguments.