Oil and gas chemistry and technology

Petrochemistry is a branch of chemistry that studies the composition, structure, properties and chemical transformations of oil and natural gas components, as well as their processing. The first research in the field of petrochemistry began in the last quarter of the 19th century, and by that time 4-5 million tons of oil had been extracted from oil wells around the world. Isopropyl alcohol, obtained by synthesis from gases released during thermal cracking of oil, was the first product of the petrochemical industry on an industrial scale.