The production of heat comes from the formation of bonds, not from the breaking of bonds! Many people find this counterintuitive. The energy from combustion co

The production of heat comes from the formation of bonds, not from the breaking of bonds! Many people find this counterintuitive. The energy from combustion comes from the fact that all hydrocarbon combustion produces a large number of strong bonds in CO2 and H2O. Breaking oxygen bonds produces no energy and in fact requires energy - it's just that since oxygen bonds are weak it requires less energy than one might expect. Edit: slightly changed wording