These facilities turn raw materials into refined products, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, residual fuel oils, propane, lubricants, asphalt, base oils, and waxes, and into petrochemical products such as ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, toluene and xylene, which are the building blocks of many consumer goods. After they are produced, refined products and petrochemicals are shipped to domestic and international markets where they supply energy or are used as inputs to produce the many products that consumers rely on for
their daily lives. America’s midstream infrastructure makes this possible. By the time a gallon of refined fuel reaches the consumer, it, and the crude oil from which it was manufactured, have traveled thousands of miles along multiple modes of transport – from the wellhead to the refinery to the retail outlet. Petrochemical products travel similar distances as they move along multiple modes – from oil and gas fields to processing plants to the fabrication plants where they are turned into consumer goods.
The Role of Natural Gas Infrastructure in Refining and Petrochemical Manufacturing
Pipelines that transport raw (or “wet”) natural gas – natural gas that consists of methane and entrained NGLs – are essential for the production of NGLs, which are separated from the gas stream at gas processing plants. Consumer-grade (or “dry”) natural gas – natural gas that consists of 95 percent to 98 percent methane after most NGLs and impurities have been removed – is also an important source of fuel to generate heat for refinery and petrochemical processes, and is used as feedstock to produce hydrogen, which is used in several refinery processes. Low natural gas prices over the past decade have reduced operating costs for U.S. refiners and petrochemical manufacturers, strengthening their global competitiveness. Although not a direct focus of this report, continued development of midstream infrastructure to support increased production, transportation and distribution of consumer-grade natural gas is important for the U.S. refining and petrochemical industries.
The Fuel and Petrochemical Supply Chains
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