Does the tag petrochemistry encompass natural gas?
At the moment, the tag's usage guidance only mentions crude oil.
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asked Dec 11, 2021 at 14:50
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I wasn't aware of the tag and I'm glad you brought it up. Presently, it is being misapplied.
The definition of petrochemistry (OED, Webster's, Wikipedia, my education as a geologist, etc.) is (Webster's Third New International) (1) the chemistry of rocks; and (2) the chemistry of petroleum; especially a branch of chemistry dealing with the production of petrochemicals.
The chemistry of rocks is something we do encounter on this site but to avoid confusion I'd rather it be under the more common term petrology or the catch-all geochemistry.
Petrochemical is, as expected, a word that can be used as an adjective for (1) or (2).
What I think suits this site is a definition for petrochemistry which is defined as (I'm stealing from Webster's)
"Related to chemicals isolated from petroleum or natural gas or a derivative produced from such a substance by a chemical reaction."
