mineral oil that is found under the ground or the sea and is used to produce petrol/gas, paraffin, diesel oil, etc.The government suspended its supplies of petroleum to the country as a result of the crisis.There were still 30 million barrels of refined petroleum in storage.Oxford Collocations DictionaryPetroleum is used before these nouns: exploration,geology,reserve,…Seefull entryWord Originlate Middle English: from medieval Latin, from Latin petra ‘rock’ (from Greek) + Latin oleum ‘oil’.
See petroleum in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic EnglishSee petroleum in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
