An Introduction:
UPSTREAM, MIDSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM
The Oil and Natural gas Industry may be divided into three sectors Upstream, Midstream and Downstream.
Upstream
The Upstream sector (also known as E&P Sector) mainly comprises of exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas. The Exploration activities under upstream involves the search of potential and undiscovered underground or underwater crude oil and natural gas fields, drilling of exploratory oil and gas wells, and subsequently drilling and operating the oil and gas wells that recover and bring the crude oil and/or raw natural gas to the surface. Upstream expenditures for oil and natural gas production activities are reported in three categories: property acquisition, exploration and development, and production. Exploration and development includes expenditures related to searching for and developing the facilities and infrastructure to produce reserves. Production includes costs associated with extracting oil and natural gas from the ground once the field has been developed. Property acquisition includes costs incurred to purchase proved and unproved oil and natural gas reserves.
Midstream
Midstream sector involves structure of both upstream as well as downstream.
The midstream segment involves the transportation by various modes including pipeline, rail, barge, oil tanker or truck and storage & marketing of petroleum and natural gas products. It focuses on transportation and storage optimisation and pipeline risk assessment. Pipelines, rail, barge, oil tanker or truck are used to move crude oil from production sites to refineries and deliver the various refined products to downstream distributors. Natural gas pipeline networks collect gas from natural gas purification plants and deliver it to downstream customers.
Downstream
The downstream sector mainly involves the refining and production of petroleum product, processing, storage, marketing and the transportation of products derived from crude oil and natural gas. The downstream sector reaches consumers through products such as gasoline or petrol, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel oil, heating oil, fuel oils, lubricants, waxes, asphalt, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas and petrochemicals.
Source
U.S. Energy Information Administration
The International Energy Agency
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