00:00The United States is the world's largest producer of crude oil, but at least 98% of Americans have
00:05no idea how crude oil actually turns into gasoline, diesel, and even the clothes you're wearing.
00:11So how does it actually work? First, crude oil is pumped into a massive distillation tower
00:17and heated to extreme temperatures. Inside the tower, the temperature drops from bottom to top
00:22by more than 540 degrees Fahrenheit. Because every component has a different boiling point,
00:28they separate naturally as the oil heats up. The lightest components rise first. At the very top
00:34is petroleum gas, the same gas used for cooking in many homes. Just below that is the most valuable
00:40product of all, gasoline. It makes up only about 20% of the crude oil. Lower down is naphtha. The
00:46clothes you're wearing right now are made from it. Below that is the true lifeblood of heavy industry,
00:51diesel fuel. Even further down is heavy fuel oil, a thick, sticky fuel that has to be heated before
00:58it can flow. It's cheap, extremely powerful, but full of impurities, which is why it's mostly burned
01:04by massive ocean-going cargo ships. And at the very bottom, what's left becomes asphalt, used to pave
01:10modern roads and highways. So now you know the truth about crude oil.
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