Downstream (petroleum industry)
Sector of the oil and gas industry where refining of crude oil and raw natural gas occurs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The oil and gas industry is usually divided into three major sectors: upstream, midstream, and downstream. The downstream sector is the refining of petroleum crude oil and the processing and purifying of raw natural gas,[1] as well as the marketing and distribution of products derived from crude oil and natural gas. The downstream sector reaches consumers through products such as gasoline or petrol, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel oil, heating oil, fuel oils, lubricants, waxes, asphalt, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as well as naphtha and hundreds of petrochemicals.
Midstream operations are often included in the downstream category and are considered to be a part of the downstream sector.
ISO definition
ISO 20815 defines "downstream" in its definition section as:
3.1.8 downstream
business process, most commonly in petroleum industry, associated with post-production activities.
Byproduct sulfur
Crude oil is a mixture of many varieties of hydrocarbons and most usually have many sulfur-containing compounds. The oil refining process commonly includes hydrodesulfurization which converts most of that sulfur into gaseous hydrogen sulfide. Raw natural gas also may contain gaseous hydrogen sulfide and sulfur-containing mercaptans, which are removed in natural-gas processing plants before the gas is distributed to consumers.
The hydrogen sulfide removed in the refining and processing of crude oil and natural gas is subsequently converted into byproduct elemental sulfur. In fact, the vast majority of the 64,000,000 tonnes (63,000,000 long tons; 71,000,000 short tons) of sulfur produced worldwide in 2005 was byproduct sulfur from refineries and natural-gas processing plants.[3][4]
Marketing
Marketing is the wholesale and retail distribution of refined petroleum products to business, industry, government, and public consumers.[5]
See also
- Coalbed methane – Form of natural gas extracted from coal beds
- Extraction of petroleum – Removal of petroleum from the earth
- Hydrocarbon exploration – Attempts to locate oil and gas
- Midstream – Sector of the oil and gas industry
- Natural gas – Gaseous fossil fuel
- Natural-gas condensate – Low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids
- Natural gas field – Subsurface pool of hydrocarbons
- Natural-gas processing – Industrial processes designed to purify raw natural gas
- Petroleum – Naturally occurring combustible liquid
- Oil production plant – Facility which processes production fluids from oil wells
- Oil refinery – Facility that processes crude oil
- Oil well – Well drilled to extract crude oil and/or gas
- Upstream (petroleum industry) – Sector of the oil and gas industry