Emily Clarke

What Happens During the Downstream Process of Oil and Gas?

Upstream processes for oil and gas are the farthest away from end consumers. It involves the exploration and production, including everything it takes to extract oil and gas from the earth.

The downstream process is what comes after. It's the refinement of crude oil and its transformation into countless consumer goods. Many diverse activities can occur in the downstream segment, covering everything from manufacturing to marketing and retail. Tools for downstream oil and gas companies help manage those operations and identify opportunities to add value.

Refinement

One key downstream business sector is oil refining. Crude oil is a mix of different hydrocarbons, each with unique properties. It's the job of a refinery to separate and process crude oil into many products. They accomplish this feat using heat and pressure to create petroleum products in different classifications.

At the top, we have light products. Light petroleum products include gasoline for vehicles, liquid petroleum gas and solvents like Naphtha. Next is medium products. Examples of medium products are kerosene, other jet fuels and diesel fuel.

Finally, there are heavy products and residue. Heavy products eventually turn into fuel and lubricating oils, paraffin wax, etc. Meanwhile, residues from the distillation process can become bitumen for roads and asphalt roofs.

Marketing and Retail

Tools for downstream oil and gas companies do more than manage the refinery process. They can also help with bringing those products to consumers. After refinement, the next stages of the downstream process revolve around consumption. Here's where the outcome of distillation and refinement brings value into the equation.

Independent refineries may have a chain of service stations to market their products. Others may sell raw petroleum materials to businesses in the petrochemical industry. Those companies then produce thousands of additional usable products.

Eventually, goods meet consumers in the retail market. Whether filling up your vehicle at a gas station or purchasing a propane tank for your next cookout, the products you use daily are part of a complex tapestry of downstream processes.

Author Resource:-

Emily Clarke is providing info about a single platform for your oil and gas software solutions. You can find her thoughts at gas and oil supply chain blog.