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Different types of petroleum products |
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For most people, the biggest act of consumption of petroleum products is filling up the fuel tank of the car. But drivers are not the only users of these products! They are consumed:
In transport: all fuels, not only for private cars (petrol or LPG), but also for transport company trucks, planes operated by airlines, diesel locomotives for the railways, etc. ;
In the home: heating oil, LPG or town gas, supplied in bottles, tanks or by the gas distribution network, for heating and daily requirements such as cooking;
In industry: industrial boilers, thermal electricity power stations operating with gas or fuel oil, industries using the non-fuel products from refineries that are known as speciality products;
In the petrochemical industry: naphtha and gas for petrochemical processing to supply raw materials for the manufacture of plastics, textiles, etc.;
In the public works sector: the main product used is bitumen for all road surfaces from local roads to motorways and on to aircraft runways;
In agriculture: for tractors or other agricultural machines, greenhouse heating and drying.
These products have to be delivered to all the users. How is this done? A very dense distribution network exists. The major users, industrial plants, are supplied directly from the refineries by rail (tanker wagons), by river and canal barges or even by pipelines carrying finished products. |
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| A night view of the relais de Chanterennes on the a10 motorway at Brie-Saint-Forge (France). |
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For the other consumers, the distribution network involves intermediate stages: for example, the petroleum products depots, areas where large storage vessels are installed holding significant quantities of petrol, diesel or heating oil. From these depots, large numbers of road tankers deliver fuel to filling stations and heating oil and gas to individuals and to companies.
Each oil company goes out of its way to satisfy users and to create customer loyalty
by providing not only the basic products but also a high level of service.
As far as the
selling price of petroleum products is concerned, the greater part consists of taxes. |
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