THE CRUDE OIL MARKET
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sustained basis, the change will be reflected in product markets,
all other things being equal.
7.3 Refining and The Markets
The petroleum refining industry converts crude oil into a wide
slate of products, which include liquefied petroleum gas, naphtha,
gasoline, kerosene, aviation fuel, diesel fuel, fuel oils, lubricating
oils, wax, asphalt, and feedstocks for the petrochemical industry
(Speight, 2007, 2011).
Petroleum refining can be traced back over 5000 years to the
time of the Sumerians when asphalt materials and petroleum-type
products were isolated not only from areas where natural seepage
occurred but also by distillation (Hsu and Robinson, 2006; Speight
2007, 2011). Petroleum refining is a recent technology and many
innovations evolved during the 20th century. Furthermore, as feedstocks change in character, these innovations will need to continue
until petroleum refining as is currently known becomes applied to,
and adapted to, other sources of energy (Speight, 2008).
Refinery activities start with the receipt of crude oil for storage at
the refinery, followed by dewatering and desalting, and include all
of the subsequent handling and refining operations. Refining terminates with storage preparatory to shipping the refined products
from the refinery. The industry employs a wide variety of processes,
and the composition of the crude oil feedstock and the chosen slate
of petroleum products determine the processes selected from refining, or processing flow scheme. The selection and arrangement of
these processes will vary among refineries, and few, if any, employ
all of these processes.
A refinery is a group of integrated manufacturing plants that
vary in number with the variety of products produced (Hsu and
Robinson, 2006; Speight, 2007, 2011) and are selected to give a
balanced production of saleable products in amounts that are in
accord with the demand for each. To prevent the accumulation of
non-saleable products, the refinery must be flexible and be able
to change operations as needed. The complexity of petroleum is
emphasized insofar as the actual amounts of the products vary
significantly from one crude oil to another (Ancheyta and Speight,
2007; Speight, 2007,2011).
205
sustained basis, the change will be reflected in product markets,
all other things being equal.
7.3 Refining and The Markets
The petroleum refining industry converts crude oil into a wide
slate of products, which include liquefied petroleum gas, naphtha,
gasoline, kerosene, aviation fuel, diesel fuel, fuel oils, lubricating
oils, wax, asphalt, and feedstocks for the petrochemical industry
(Speight, 2007, 2011).
Petroleum refining can be traced back over 5000 years to the
time of the Sumerians when asphalt materials and petroleum-type
products were isolated not only from areas where natural seepage
occurred but also by distillation (Hsu and Robinson, 2006; Speight
2007, 2011). Petroleum refining is a recent technology and many
innovations evolved during the 20th century. Furthermore, as feedstocks change in character, these innovations will need to continue
until petroleum refining as is currently known becomes applied to,
and adapted to, other sources of energy (Speight, 2008).
Refinery activities start with the receipt of crude oil for storage at
the refinery, followed by dewatering and desalting, and include all
of the subsequent handling and refining operations. Refining terminates with storage preparatory to shipping the refined products
from the refinery. The industry employs a wide variety of processes,
and the composition of the crude oil feedstock and the chosen slate
of petroleum products determine the processes selected from refining, or processing flow scheme. The selection and arrangement of
these processes will vary among refineries, and few, if any, employ
all of these processes.
A refinery is a group of integrated manufacturing plants that
vary in number with the variety of products produced (Hsu and
Robinson, 2006; Speight, 2007, 2011) and are selected to give a
balanced production of saleable products in amounts that are in
accord with the demand for each. To prevent the accumulation of
non-saleable products, the refinery must be flexible and be able
to change operations as needed. The complexity of petroleum is
emphasized insofar as the actual amounts of the products vary
significantly from one crude oil to another (Ancheyta and Speight,
2007; Speight, 2007,2011).