Midstream
The petroleum industry is usually divided into three major components: upstream, midstream and downstream. The midstream sector involves the transportation (by pipeline, rail, barge, oil tanker or truck), storage, and wholesale marketing of crude or refined petroleum products. Pipelines and other transport systems can be used to move crude oil from production sites to refineries and deliver the various refined products to downstream distributors.[1][2][3] Natural gas pipeline networks aggregate gas from natural gas purification plants and deliver it to downstream customers, such as local utilities.
The midstream operations are often taken to include some elements of the upstream and downstream sectors. For example, the midstream sector may include natural gas processing plants that purify the raw natural gas as well as removing and producing elemental sulfur and natural gas liquids (NGL) as finished end-products.
Service providers involved in the midstream sector
- Barge companies
- Railroad companies
- Trucking and hauling companies
- Pipeline transport companies
- Logistics and technology companies
- Transloading companies
- Terminal developers and operators
Midstream in ISO
In ISO 20815 define midstream in definition section as:
3.1.27 midstream[4]
business category involving the processing and Transportation sectors of petroleum industry.
- Example: transportation pipelines, terminals, gas processing and treatment, LNG, LPG, and GTL.
See also
References
- ↑ Petroleum industry
- ↑ Upstream, midstream & downstream
- ↑ Industry Overview from the website of the Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC)
- ↑ ISO 20815