Where Does Paraffin Oil Come From

Paraffin can be extracted from coal, wood and oil shale, but it is primarily obtained from the distillation of petroleum, which was first distilled in 1807 by geologist Abraham Gesner.

Where do you get paraffin from?

Paraffin wax (or petroleum wax) is a soft colorless solid derived from petroleum, coal or oil shale that consists of a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules containing between twenty and forty carbon atoms.

What is paraffin called in America?

(in British English) paraffin, called kerosene in North American English. … (in North American English) any of various hydrocarbon oils obtained from petroleum, for example mineral oil.