Downstream (petroleum industry)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The oil and gas industry is usually divided into three major sectors: upstream, midstream and

downstream. The downstream sector commonly refers to the refining of petroleum crude oil and the

processing and purifying of raw natural gas,[1][2][3] as well as the marketing and distribution of products

derived from crude oil and natural gas. The downstream sector touches 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 hundreds of petrochemicals.

Midstream operations are often included in the downstream category and considered to be a part of the

downstream sector.

Byproduct sulfur

Crude oil is a mixture of many varieties of hydrocarbons and most usually has 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 metric tons of

sulfur produced worldwide in 2005 was byproduct sulfur from refineries and natural gas processing

plants.[4][5]

See also

Coal-bed methane

Extraction of petroleum

Gas field

Hydrocarbon

exploration

Midstream (petroleum

industry)

Natural gas

Natural gas condensate

Natural-gas processing

Petroleum

Petroleum extraction

Oil production plant

Oil refinery

Oil well

Upstream (petroleum industry)

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References

1. ^ Petroleum industry (http://www.trencome.com/petroleumindustry.htm)

2. ^ Upstream, midstream & downstream (http://wpccanada.com/yc/industry-info/about-the-industry/upstream-

midstream-downstream.html)

3. ^ Industry Overview (http://www.psac.ca/business/industry-overview/) from the website of the Petroleum

Services Association of Canada (PSAC)

4. ^ Sulfur production report (http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/sulfur/sulfumcs06.pdf) by the

United States Geological Survey

5. ^ Discussion of recovered byproduct sulfur (http://www.agiweb.org/geotimes/july03/resources.html)

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Oil and gas

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