Chemicals made from oil are used to make products that range from makeup, toys, fabrics, sneakers and football helmets to aspirin, toothpaste, deodorant, clothes, hair dryers and lipstick to name just a few. Plastics made from oil are widely used in everything from compact discs and video cassette recorders to computers, TVs, and telephones. Natural gas supplies 25 percent of all the energy Americans consume. It's our second largest source of energy. Only oil provides more energy than natural gas.
Natural gas has many different uses.
For example, industry uses it for heat and as a source of power. Many households rely on it for heating and cooking. Power companies use it to make electricity. The United States consumed 18.2 million barrels of oil a day in 1996. About half of the oil we consume is produced here in the United States.