The Middle East, considered a cradle of civilization, is known for having the highest supplies of crude oil in the world. Venezuela, however, is known for having the largest reserves in the world. On the other hand, I’ve heard Middle Eastern oil is easier to refine than Venezuelan.
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Oil is primarily formed when large amounts of small soft bodied aquatic organisms, such as plankton and algae, die in large masses and are buried before they can fully decompose or be consumed, as underground their partially decomposed remains are subjected to intense heat and pressure which basically breaks down the more complex molecules into more basic hydrocarbons(molecules made of up bonds of hydrogen and carbon). Carbon soup in essence.
Naturally extracted crude oil will also not entirely be just the same oil, its a mix of various different liquid oil molecules, as well as a mix of more gaseous hydrocarbons like methane and propane, and this mix varies on each different reserve, and the rock composition above and around them may differ, which can effect how easy it is to extract and refine this resource in what you need from it. Generally the higher the number of carbon atoms in the molecules, the denser and heavier they become. The gases are mostly the lighter molecules, while at the far end you have really large and heavy molecules that are basically tar.
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