User:Najeeb ul Rehman Hairvi/sandbox

== Najeeb ul Rehman Hairvi Oil and Gas Refining History == PETROLEUM REFINING AT A GLANCE

Petroleum refining is a unique and critical link in the petroleum supply chain, from the wellhead to the pump. The other links add value to petroleum mainly by moving and storing it (e.g., lifting crude oil to the surface; moving crude oil from oil fields to storage facilities and then to refineries; moving refined products from refinery to terminals and end-use locations, etc.). Refining adds value by converting crude oil (which in itself has little end-use value) into a range of refined products, including transportation fuels. The primary economic objective in refining is to maximize the value added in converting crude oil into finished products. Petroleum refineries are large, capital-intensive manufacturing facilities with extremely complex processing schemes. They convert crude oils and other input streams into dozens of refined (co-)products, including: ♦ Liquified petroleum gases (LPG) ♦ Gasoline ♦ Jet fuel ♦ Kerosene (for lighting and heating) ♦ Diesel fuel ♦ Petrochemical feedstocks ♦ Lubricating oils and waxes ♦ Home heating oil ♦ Fuel oil (for power generation, marine fuel, industrial and district heating) ♦ Asphalt (for paving and roofing uses). Of these, the transportation fuels have the highest value; fuel oils and asphalt the lowest value. Many refined products, such as gasoline, are produced in multiple grades, to meet different specifications and standards (e.g., octane levels, sulfur content). More than 660 refineries, in 116 countries, are currently in operation, producing more than 85 million barrels of refined products per day. Each refinery has a unique physical configuration, as well as unique operating characteristics and economics. A refinery’s configuration and performance characteristics are determined primarily by the refinery’s location, vintage, availability of funds for capital investment, available crude oils, product demand (from local and/or export markets), product quality requirements, environmental regulations and standards, and market specifications and requirements for refined products. Most refineries in North America are configured to maximize gasoline production, at the expense of the other refined products. Elsewhere, most of the existing refining capacity and virtually all new capacity is configured to maximize distillate (diesel and jet fuel) production and, in some areas, petrochemical feedstock production, because these products are enjoying the fastest demand growth in most regions of the world.