Main Petroleum Products and Their Role in the Oil Industry
In recent years, it has been thought to be the world’s main source of energy. But due to the high volume of pollution from oil as a fuel, many efforts were made to replace it with clean fuels or low-polluting energy sources, which led to a greater focus on petroleum products. These petroleum products, or petrochemical products, play an important role in our lives today, and perhaps without them it is not possible to continue life for today’s modern man. On the other hand, the petrochemical industry has a special economic position in industrialized countries, and most of the industrialized countries are oil importers and exporters of petrochemical products.
What are the main petroleum products?
In refineries, different parts of crude oil are separated and other usable products are produced. According to the report of the international oil and gas magazine, there are more than 6,000 oil products, most of which are used in our daily lives, and perhaps few people have information about their relationship with oil.
This publication considers the main petroleum products to include gasoline, petroleum condensate, including diesel fuel and jet fuel, raw materials of the petrochemical industry, bitumen and asphalt, types of paraffin and wax, and types of base oils, and writes: “Out of 42 gallons of crude oil, more than 45 gallons of petroleum products are produced in America, and this process is carried out in the developed and advanced refineries of this country.
The first and main petroleum product is gasoline, which is widely used in the world economy, but diesel fuel and jet fuel are also considered to be other important petroleum products. On the other hand, LPG, asphalt, and bitumen are among petroleum products.
It should be kept in mind that petroleum products are used in all parts of our lives. All kinds of plastics and plastic materials are one of these highly consumed products, and life without these products is impossible. Making all kinds of tires for cars, motorcycles, and bicycles is another part of the products that are produced as a result of oil processing in refineries. Many liquids that are used to clean surfaces these days are petroleum products, and all kinds of deodorants and inks are also petroleum products.
Petroleum products are divided into several categories.
In its recent report, the McKinsey Research Center has divided petroleum products into two main and important categories. First, petroleum products that are used as fuel—propane, butane, and LPG are among them—and light naphtha, gasoline, and gasoline used in airplanes are in this category, along with jet fuel.
Diesel fuel, oil, industrial gas, and household fuel are also included in this section. But a large part of refinery products is no longer used as fuel, and among them are bitumen and asphalt, base oils or lubricating oils, propylene, and all kinds of aromatics.
Asphalt and bitumen, which are used to make roads or the roofs of houses flat and impenetrable, are two of the most widely used petroleum products. On the other hand, lubricating oils that are used for industrial machines or car engines, because of their characteristics, prevent the surfaces from rubbing together and damaging them.
All kinds of waxes and paraffins, greases, kerosene, sulfur, and petroleum coke have been introduced as non-fuel petroleum products. Kerosene is a colorless, odorless oil that is used in the production of cosmetics and is also used in the pharmaceutical industry. This product is used in the production of various shampoos and shaving pastes. Sulfur, which has been identified as a damaging factor to petroleum products in many cases, is a product when it is separated from petroleum products in the refinery and sold separately to various industries. Petrochemicals are extremely important and are widely used.
Petroleum coke is also a byproduct of refineries and is used as fuel for power plants and cement factories. This product is also used to make electrodes and anodes.
Prepared by the PetroNaft Co. research team.