Petroleum Industry
PETROLEUM
I. HISTORY
The petroleum industry includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing petroleum products. Petroleum in an unrefined state has been utilized by humans for over 5000 years. Oil in general has been used since early human history to keep fires ablaze, and also for warfare. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline (petrol). Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products, including pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, and plastics. The industry is usually divided into three major components: upstream, midstream and downstream (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_industry).
Petroleum is vital to many industries, and is of importance to the maintenance of industrialized civilization itself, and thus is a critical concern for many nations. Oil accounts for a large percentage of the world’s energy consumption, ranging from a low of 32 percent for Europe and Asia, up to a high of 53 percent for the Middle East. Other geographic regions consumption patterns are as follows: South and Central America 44percent, Africa 41 percent, and North America 40 percent. The world consumes 30 billion barrels of oil per year, with developed nations being the largest consumers. Taken as a whole; the production, distribution, refining, and retailing of petroleum represents the world's largest industry in terms of dollar value (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_industry).
INDUSTRY SECTORS
The petroleum industry is divided into five different sectors that include all steps involved in finding, producing, processing, transporting and marketing oil and natural gas.
The first segment is exploration and production also referred to as the upstream segment. This segment involves the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, from cutting-edge geology to high-tech offshore drilling platforms. The U.S. is the...
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