Essentially I believe we have vegatable oils, animal oils (fats) & mineral oils. Parrafin oil is a mineral oil I think. The British refer to what we of the US call Kerosene as Paraffin, about as mineral as one can get. Oil from Pennsylvania wells has always been referred to as Parrafin Base oil, while Texas & other Western oils are Asphalt Base. What we might buy at a drug store as mineral oil for use as a laxative is I believe a highly refined petroleum based oil. This is rather simplistic & not very technical, but perhaps sheds a little light on the subject.
