The discovery
The Bible refers to it as bitumen and asphalt. For example, Genesis mentions that asphalt is used to bind together the bricks that make up the Tower of Babel.
It also recounts how the kings Sodom and Gomorra were defeated when they fell in asphalt wells in the valley of Siddim.

Arabs, Hebrews and Egyptians used petrol for medicinal purposes. Also, the tribes
of the pre-Colombian period knew petrol and used it to waterproof their boats. From 1850 onwards, new uses for petrol were discovered. Asphalt was used on roads, paraffin
to make candles, cover cheese and create hair preparations and kerosene used in heating and lighting.

The first well
In 1859 a new era began. Colonel Edwin L. Drake drilled the world's first petrol well in
the US and managed to extract petrol from a depth of 21 metres. In 1895 the first
petrol-powered cars appeared and just before World War I there were over a million
petrol-powered cars on the streets.

In 1902 Henry Ford launched his famous Model T. Ever since, the growth in the number of cars has been unstoppable. In 1938 the number of cars reached 40 million. In 1956, there were 100 million petrol-powered cars on the road, reaching 170 million in 1964.

Did you know?
- In 1880 world production (almost completely US-based) was under 1 million tons. Today production exceeds 3,500 million tons.
- Petrol has been found in every continent apart from Antarctica.
- Three areas dominate world production: The Middle East, the former Soviet Union
and the US, which produce around 70%. Venezuela, Mexico and China provide nearly
5% of global production.
- According to various studies, in 2002 between 990,000 million and 1.1 billion barrels of crude oil remain to be extracted. This means that at the current level of consumption, these reserves will run out in the year 2043.
- As member of the International Energy Agency (AlE), Spain has reserves of petrol and fuel that are equivalent to 90 days� consumption.