How to Use petroleum in a Sentence

petroleum

noun
  • The petroleum business is an odd one, with strange cycles of boom and bust.
    — Erik Sherman, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2025
  • There are places in the world where petroleum bubbles freely up from the Earth.
    — Ian Rose, JSTOR Daily, 23 July 2025
  • While many coatings are petroleum-based, Shel-life is plant-based.
    — Shayna Harris, Forbes, 16 Sep. 2021
  • As with petroleum, rising home prices are the result of a lack of supply.
    — Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 30 July 2021
  • Traders figure that there is enough petroleum on hand around the world to deal with any supply problems.
    — Stanley Reed, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2024
  • Companies have been promising to get rid of the petroleum dyes for years.
    — Deidre McPhillips, CNN Money, 21 Apr. 2025
  • The type of plastic used also affects the amount of petroleum used.
    — Discover Magazine, 9 Dec. 2023
  • Funding would come in part from a fee of 5 cents per barrel on petroleum products.
    — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Feb. 2021
  • His current rank is as a sergeant first class and his job is a petroleum supply specialist.
    — Luis Martinez, ABC News, 26 Oct. 2023
  • That can do quite a bit of damage to anything that would be a carbon base, or that petroleum texture.
    — Hannah K. Sparling, The Enquirer, 17 Nov. 2020
  • Still, no one can blame Dunn for the current petroleum shortage.
    — Christopher Helman, Forbes, 18 Aug. 2022
  • Coal-tar hair dyes are derived from petroleum and are no longer widely available on the market.
    — Yasmine Salam, NBC News, 13 Feb. 2025
  • The price of steel, used in bridges, has risen the most, but so have the prices of dirt, gravel and asphalt, which is petroleum-based.
    — John Tuohy, The Indianapolis Star, 30 June 2022
  • Shapiro said the tanker was carrying some kind of petroleum product.
    — Julianne McShane, NBC News, 12 June 2023
  • The same thing happened in petroleum.
    — Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 29 Mar. 2026
  • This would be the third time Biden has had to tap into the strategic petroleum reserve.
    — Justin Gomez, ABC News, 31 Mar. 2022
  • This is the third time Biden has turned to the strategic petroleum reserve in a little over four months.
    — David Koenig and Cathy Bussewitz, Chron, 31 Mar. 2022
  • That’s right—gasoline and other petroleum products have a shelf life.
    — Kamron Sanders, Better Homes & Gardens, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Roughly $53 billion worth of that was petroleum oils and crude oil.
    — Lauren Kent, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2025
  • Polypropylene is a type of plastic that comes from petroleum, which may lead to some concerns about its safety in the home.
    — Belle Duchene, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Oct. 2022
  • The Navy last week said a water sample from one of its wells showed the presence of petroleum products.
    — CBS News, 6 Dec. 2021
  • The Navy hasn’t determined how the petroleum got in the water.
    — NBC News, 8 Mar. 2022
  • Wang says China has petroleum reserves of up to four to five months in the event of prolonged conflict.
    — Anna Coren, CBS News, 3 Mar. 2026
  • Yet, the artificial color, which is derived from petroleum, is still used to give foods and medicines a bright red hue.
    — Elizabeth Chuck, NBC News, 10 Oct. 2023
  • As gasoline, petroleum fueled the automobiles that jammed its streets and the planes that filled its skies.
    — Daniel Immerwahr, The New Republic, 1 Dec. 2020
  • As the article notes, 40% of our corn is made into the ethanol that is mixed with petroleum fuels.
    — Star Tribune, 22 July 2021
  • Two east metro sites known to be tainted with petroleum and other contaminants will soon be on the mend thanks to grant funding.
    — Mars King, Twin Cities, 21 Aug. 2025
  • The teams started strong by removing plastic pieces and petroleum where the trains derailed.
    — Megan Shinn, CBS News, 26 May 2026
  • The oil price shock also will drive up the cost of jet fuel, transportation and the countless products made from petroleum.
    — Matt Egan, CNN, 3 Mar. 2022
  • When any petroleum tanker crashes and becomes a fireball, the industry takes a hit to its image.
    — Dean Narciso, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'petroleum.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: