UNIVERSITY OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES, ACCRA

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

P R E S E N TAT I O N B Y:

L E O N A R D S M . L A S S E Y ( 1 0 0 6 1 0 2 9 )

QUESTION

TO WHAT EXTENT CAN THE DOWNSTREAM PETROLEUM

SECTOR CONTRIBUTE TO THE UPSTREAM

CONSERVATION?

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

OVERVIEW OF THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY

HOW CAN THE DOWNSTREAM SECTOR CONTRIBUTE TO UPSTREAM

CONSERVATION?

BENEFITS OF MANAGING EFFICIENTLY THE DOWNSTREAM PETROLEUM

SECTOR ON THE UPSTREAM SECTOR

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

Oil is the main non-renewable source of energy that is currently fueling the world economy. In spite of many

efforts to develop renewable energy sources, which have been further stimulated by major increases in

international crude oil prices during last few years, the share of such sources in global energy consumption is

still marginal.

Conventional wisdom suggests that the world economy will continue to be highly dependent on oil and gas,

while in coming decades the share of gas might increase considerably and eventually surpass that of oil, the

latter will still play a major role in the world energy balance.

The efficient management and conservation of petroleum resources is of great importance to now and future

generations. In this light, the extent to which the downstream petroleum sector can contribute to upstream

petroleum conservation is thus discussed.

OVERVIEW OF THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY

The oil and gas industry is essentially subdivided into three phases and these include, the upstream

sector, the midstream sector and the downstream sector.

The upstream sector of the oil and gas industry involves processes including the searching for and

the recovery of crude oil as well as its production.

OVERVIEW OF THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY CONT’D

The upstream sector includes different operations such as the searching for prospective underwater oil

and gas fields, drilling of exploratory wells and also making requisite operations on the well so as to

bring the crude oil or natural gas to the ground surface.

The downstream sector of the oil and gas industry involves the refining of the crude oil and/or raw

natural gases obtained from the upstream sector as well as selling or distributing the products obtained.

Many products are derived from the refining of crude oil and these may include diesel oil, liquefied

petroleum gas (LPG) and many more.

HOW CAN THE DOWNSTREAM SECTOR CONTRIBUTE TO UPSTREAM CONSERVATION?

Crude oil from the well head in the upstream in its raw state has less value compared it

being refined at the downstream level.

In refining the crude oil, a process called revamping can be considered. This was the case

with ConocoPhillips refinery in Ponca City, it was observed during a cause benefit analysis

that 0.3 – 0.5 bbl of oil was recovered when revamping strategy was used.

HOW CAN THE DOWNSTREAM SECTOR CONTRIBUTE TO UPSTREAM CONSERVATION?

Furthermore, the downstream can also consider the replacement of inefficiency in the furnace

during distillation. This will help reduce wastages.

The use of addictive at the point of sales or marketing could be another factor to consider by

the downstream sector in contributing to help conserve petroleum in the upstream sector.

Sophisticated technologies that can provide better integration and enable the processes of

refining crude effectively and efficiently must be implemented at the downstream level.

HOW CAN THE DOWNSTREAM SECTOR CONTRIBUTE TO UPSTREAM CONSERVATION?

In order to reduce and prevent wastage, the supply chain of the oil and gas industry thus,

transportation of crude both in the upstream and downstream must be reviewed and

implemented efficiently.

The downstream sector can contribute in the conservation of upstream sector by

effectively monitoring and maintaining its storage facilities to avoid waste and thus

conserving the petroleum even at their level.

BENEFITS OF MANAGING EFFICIENTLY THE DOWNSTREAM PETROLEUM SECTOR ON THE UPSTREAM SECTOR

Having understood how the downstream sector contribute to upstream petroleum conservation,

the benefit therefor is:

Eliminating wastage at the downstream level will mean achieving efficiency

Economies of scales – where the downstream sector is able to produce more refined products

with little crude

It puts less pressure on the need for hydrocarbons

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

We recommend that the downstream petroleum deregulation should develop

strong policies which could address the issue of petroleum wastage during

processing and refining of petroleum.

CONCLUSION

Petroleum needs to be conserved to protect our environment from drastic changes and to save the

depleting resources for our future generations.

The rate at which the Petroleum is being produced and consumed can damage our world in many

ways.

In other words conserving our non-renewable resources helps us to save the environment. We can

reduce these impacts by consuming less petroleum.

The cost and demand for oil and gas is rising every year. It is important for us to realize how these

resources are useful to us and how we can avoid it getting wasted.

END OF PRESENTATION