Transformed into petrochemicals, it is all around us, in just about every modern manufactured thing, from the clothes we wear and the medicines we take to the materials that make up our computers, countertops, toothbrushes, running shoes, car bumpers, grocery bags, flooring tiles, and on and on and on. Oil has touched all our lives in other ways as well. Oil even became a factor in some of the most complex geopolitical struggles in the last quarter of the 20th century, ones still playing out today. The captains of the oil industry were among the most successful entrepreneurs of any century, reaping huge profits from oil, natural gas, and their byproducts and building business empires that soared to capitalism's heights. Petroleum Technology History Part 1 - Background