Chemists in the oil and petroleum industry work with crude oil and the products derived from it.  They have a broad spectrum of jobs such as:

• “Fingerprinting” oil leaked in a spill
• Process control at a refinery
• Developing catalysts used in the refining process
• Creating new polymers for fibers and resins

Definitions:

Fingerprinting – a process that refers to analytical chemistry techniques by which crude oil is defined into its components in such a way as to permit the identification of a particular sample of crude oil by the uniqueness of its composition.

Process control – an engineering discipline that enables mass production of continuous processes such as oil refining, paper manufacturing, chemicals, power plants and many other industries. Process control enables automation, with which a small staff of operating personnel can operate a complex process from a central control room.

Earth Scientists, Geoscientists, Geophysicists, Geologists study the earth, including its composition, structure and other physical aspects for oil discovery and production and use complex equipment to collect seismic data.  They are usually linked to the actual discovery of oil and the identification of possible oil deposits (areas underground where oil is trapped), and make the decision on where the location of drilling will occur.

An Earth Scientist’s main responsibilities include:

• Controlling the quality of the seismic data collected
• Interpreting seismic data to create maps of the build up of hydrocarbons (crude oil and natural gas).
• Examining the physical properties of rocks, as well as gathering and evaluating well data to build reservoir models.

Gas Station –  also known as a filling station, fuelling station, garage, gasbar (Canada), gas station (United States and Canada), petrol bunk or petrol pump (India), petrol garage, petrol station (Australia, Hong Kong, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and United Kingdom), service station (Australia, United Kingdom and United States), or servo (Australia), is a facility which sells gasoline (gas, petrol), diesel fuel, and in some cases electric energy.

Natural Gas –  is a fossil fuel formed when layers of buried plants and animals are exposed to intense heat and pressure over thousands of years. The energy that the plants originally obtained from the sun is stored in the form of carbon in natural gas. It is a nonrenewable resource because it cannot be replenished on a human time frame.  Natural gas consists primarily of methane.  In its refined state, it is often used for heating, cooking, and electricity generation, fuel for vehicles, etc.

The midstream industry processes, stores, markets and transports crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (LNGs), and sulphur.

Midstream functions:

• Transports crude oil or refined petroleum products by pipeline, rail, barge or truck from production sites to refineries and from refineries to distributers (gas stations, etc.).
• Stores oil and natural gas
• Wholesale markets crude or refined petroleum products

Midstream images