Oil and Gas Downstream
Processing, transporting and selling refined products made from crude oil is the business of the downstream segment of the oil and gas industry.
Key downstream business sectors include:
The downstream industry provides thousands of products to end-user customers around the globe.
Many products are familiar such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, heating oil and asphalt for roads. Others are not as familiar such as lubricants, synthetic rubber, plastics, fertilizers and pesticides.
READ ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM
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Read more in the What is Downstream segment of Oil 101
Downstream Modules Include:
Refining
Refiners produce a wide range of fuels and specialty oils used in transportation, industry, electricity generation, heating, and petrochemical production, and in thousands of other uses.
These modern facilities, which cost billions of dollars to build and can incur billions of dollars in annual operating costs, employ a variety of technologies to squeeze the most out of a barrel of crude oil and to provide the flexibility required to meet shifting seasonal product demand patterns.
- Introduction to Refining
- Crude Oil and Petroleum Products
- Refinery Processes
- Refining Business Drivers
- Refining Business Processes
- Refining Trends
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Supply, Trading, and Transportation
Volatility and trading have always been an integral part of the oil business. Researchers point out that in 1859, crude oil was selling for $20/bbl and two years later oil prices were only 52 cents. Speculators would buy huge quantities of crude after an especially successful wildcat well had made the oil prices drop, store it in tanks and wait for the price to rise again.
JD Rockefeller realized that control of supply was the key to success in the business. His initial focus was “cooperation” (later named a monopoly) between refining, transportation and sales. By 1879, Standard Oil controlled 95% of oil refining in the US. He also purchased plants, warehouses, tanker cars and wagon fleets to make his company totally self-sufficient.
Managing supply logistics has been a global challenge from the industry beginnings.
- Introduction to Supply, Trading and Transportation
- Crude Oil and Product Fundamentals
- Hedging and Financial Contracts
- Supply and Trading Business Drivers
- Supply and Trading Business Processes
- Supply and Trading Trends
Marketing and Retail
Characteristics of the petroleum product marketplace vary widely from country to country, but since Ford began mass marketing the automobile in the early 20th century, the United States has been the leading indicator for petroleum product marketing concepts, pricing and formats for the rest of the world.
Accordingly, this Course focuses on marketing practices in the United States, with notes on alternative practices in other global markets as appropriate.
The marketing function covers petroleum products sold from storage terminals at refineries, pipelines and marketing terminals. The most widely known aspect of marketing around the world is the retail service station.
- Introduction to Petroleum Product Marketing
- Marketing Fundamentals
- Retail
- Marketing Business Drivers
- Marketing Business Processes
- Marketing Trends
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Related Resources:
What is the difference between Upstream and Downstream?
Drilling Wells for Oil and Gas and Offshore Drilling