The petroleum industry began with the successful drilling of the first commercial oil well in 1859, and the opening of the first refinery two years later to process the crude into kerosene. The evolution of petroleum refining from simple distillation to today's sophisticated processes has created a need for health and safety management procedures and safe work practices. To those unfamiliar with the industry, petroleum refineries may appear to be complex and confusing places. Refining is the processing of one complex mixture of hydrocarbons into a number of other complex mixtures of hydrocarbons. The safe and orderly processing of crude oil into flammable gases and liquids at high temperatures and pressures using vessels, equipment, and piping subjected to stress and corrosion requires considerable knowledge, control, and expertise.

Petroleum refining has evolved continuously in response to changing consumer demand for better and different products. The original requirement was to produce kerosene as a cheaper and better source of light than whale oil. The development of the internal combustion engine led to the production of gasoline and diesel fuels. The evolution of the airplane created a need first for high-octane aviation gasoline and then for jet fuel, a sophisticated form of the original product, kerosene. Present-day refineries produce a variety of products including many required as feedstock for the petrochemical industry.

The report U.S. Petroleum Refining Industry focuses on the U.S. petroleum refining
industry from the basics of the very refining processes itself. The report starts with a descriptive base analysis of the many refining processes and the features of the U.S. petroleum refining industry. Factors driving demand and the resources, which are used to meet this demand, are looked at, as well as a focus on the emerging challenge of meeting the global climate change. The issue of rising emissions of the industry is also described in the report. The report further focuses on the consumption patterns, which are present in the markets.

A focus on the refined petroleum products’ industry as well as an analysis of the various processes involved during the entire petroleum refining process in the United States, such as alkylation, hydro processing, distillation, etc., is analyzed thoroughly in the report. Major industry players and the various refineries in the country are also researched upon.





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Pages: 185
Publication Date: April 2008
Publisher: Energy Business Reports