Petroleum processing transforms crude oil into consumer products. Crude oil contains hydrocarbons that are separated during distillation to extract usable components. Production can be adjusted to meet supply and demand. Facilities are large and staffed by engineers, administrators, and technicians.
Petroleum processing is a series of procedures used to transform petroleum from freshly extracted crude oil to finished consumer products, ranging from jet fuel to plastics. There are numerous stages involved in oil processing which can take place in different locations. Many companies specialize in the processing and refining of petroleum and may also be involved in the extraction of crude oil and the consumer marketing of petroleum.
Crude oil contains a mixture of solid, liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons. When first dug out of the ground, crude oil is largely useless, despite being known as “black gold”. In its raw state, the usable components of oil are essentially locked away where no one can access them. Petroleum processing is used to extract the various usable components.
In petroleum processing, the usable components of crude oil are separated during a distillation process. The distillation process breaks down the hydrocarbon chains in crude oil to access fractional components such as kerosene and gasoline. The components extracted vary, depending on the blank the processor starts with and the processes used. Processors can adjust their production of petroleum products to meet supply and demand constraints.
If, for example, the market is saturated with kerosene, kerosene extraction is of little value. Thus, the crude can be processed and refined to minimize the amount of kerosene produced. On the other hand, if supply is low and demand is increasing, increasing kerosene production is a smart business move that will allow an oil processor to tap into the market and get a good price.
The facilities where oil processing and refining occur are quite large and are more like a set of interconnected structures than a continuous production line. These facilities are manned by staff who inspect the equipment used to process the oil, making adjustments as necessary to address specific needs and problems. Processing of petroleum often takes place along major rail, truck and ship routes to provide easy access for transportation of finished products, reducing costs.
People interested in petroleum processing can be involved in several areas of the process. Engineers work with materials on the production line and may also be involved in developing new tooling to streamline the process. Administrators make decisions about what to produce and how much to produce, as well as negotiate contracts with suppliers and buyers of products. Technicians are involved in the day-to-day work of a processing plant, from managing equipment to cleaning the distillation chambers.
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