Upstream
Downstream
Midstream
Refining
Petrochemical
Upstream (E&P - Exploration and Production) : Typically refers to all facilities for production and stabilization of oil and gas. The reservoir and drilling community often uses upstream for the wellhead and completion.
Downstream : Refining of petroleum crude oil and the processing and purifying of raw natural gas. Also, marketing and distribution of products derived from crude oil and natural gas.
Midstream : Broadly defined as gas treatment, LNG production and regasification plants, and oil and gas pipeline systems
Refining : Where oil and condensates are processed into marketable products with defined specifications such as gasoline, diesel or feedstock for the petrochemical industry.
Petrochemical : These products are chemical products where the main feedstock is hydrocarbons. Examples are plastics, fertilizer and industrial chemicals.
Refinery uses fractional distillation. Distillation is done by the principle of heat transfer between a gas phase moving up and a liquid phase moving down.
Petroleum products are fuels that are made using crude oil and other hydrocarbons that are contained in natural gas. Oil refineries will blend various feedstocks, mix appropriate additives, provide short-term storage, and prepare for bulk loading to trucks, barges, product ships, and railcars.
Products made from petrochemicals include plastics, soaps and detergents, solvents, drugs, fertilizers, pesticides, explosives, syn- thetic fibers and rubbers, paints, epoxy resins, flooring and insulating materials. The flow chart of petrochemicals below shows ways used by chemists and chemical engineers to transform hydrocarbons into useful and valuable products.
Fractional distillation is performed on natural gas and other feedstocks to obtain ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8) and/or butane (C4H10). The hydrocarbon feed (e.g., ethane and propane) each undergo steam cracking, also known as pyrolysis, at high temperatures. Steam crackers consist of furnaces which heat the feedstock in tubes running through the combustion chamber.
Major petroleum companies around the world
TotalEnergies SE
TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and is one of the seven super major oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and production to power generation, transportation, refining, petroleum product marketing, and international crude oil and product trading. TotalEner- gies is also a large-scale chemicals manufacturer.
Tullow Oil plc
Tullow Oil plc is a multinational oil and gas exploration company founded in Tullow, Ireland, with its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
BP p.l.c.
BP p.l.c. (formerly The British Petroleum Company p.l.c. and BP Amoco p.l.c.; stylised in all lowercase) is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. It is one of the oil and gas supermajors and one of the worlds largest compa- nies measured by revenues and profits. It is a vertically integrated company operating in all areas of the oil and gas industry, includ- ing exploration and extraction, refining, distribution and marketing, power generation, and trading.
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