My first job in the oil field was cleaning up oil spills. Specifically crude oil spilled from pipeline breaks as it was pumped from the storage tanks at the wel

My first job in the oil field was cleaning up oil spills. Specifically crude oil spilled from pipeline breaks as it was pumped from the storage tanks at the well site to refineries from processing. Oil is a general term that can include everything from fluids like condensate to near asphalt grade fluids depending on the source rock composition, depth of burial, time in oil generation window, and a bunch of other things. Being a hydrocarbon, it is composed of chains of hydrocarbon molecules in various configurations including things like benzene, a substance known to cause cancer in more states than just California. Many of the central Texas leases I worked on had storage tanks that were marked with signage warning about the presence of benzene and notifying workers to use appropriate protective gear. (late 1970's). I couldn't count the number of times we had a big spill and I ended up covered head to toe with crude oil. I have no idea what was in it. I know that the hottest fires I have ever seen were crude oil fires. I will never forget all the fire tornadoes I saw swirling on rivers and lakes and in fields as we burned off spilled crude oil. Anyway, crude oil is full of all kinds of nasty stuff and, like another poster mentioned, also has some produced water along with it that is very briny and frequently full of nasty shit itself. It is so toxic that operators have to pay to dispose of it. Areas around wells and above-ground storage ponds used in the 1920's an d1930's are still dead from the salt that washed out of those ponds and down creeks. Personally, after 40 years in the business, I hope low oil prices are the nail in the industry's coffin. They dug their own graves and it's time to shove them in and backfill the hole.