The document outlines the three primary sectors of the petroleum industry: upstream, midstream, and downstream. Upstream activities involve searching for and extracting crude oil and natural gas, midstream activities focus on the transportation and storage of these resources, while downstream activities include processing and selling the refined products. Each sector plays a crucial role in the overall production and distribution of petroleum products.

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2. Upstream Activities.
Midstream Activities
Downstream Activities
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3. Upstream Activities
The Upstream activities sector include the searching and extraction of underground
crude oil and natural gas , drilling exploratory wells, and subsequently drilling and
operating the wells that recover and bring the crude oil and/or raw natural gas to
the surface.
In the petroleum industry, locating underground or underwater oil reserves
characterizes the upstream process. Additionally, the upstream process in this
industry involves bringing oil and gas to the surface. Extraction wells represent an
example of a structure operating in this stage in the process. The upstream stage in
the production process may also manifest itself as a supplier providing raw
materials to manufacturers or other businesses that ultimately process the
materials.
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4. Midstream Activities
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.
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.
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5. Downstream Activities
The downstream stage in the production process involves processing the materials
collected during the upstream stage into a finished product. The downstream stage
further includes the actual sale of that product to other businesses, governments or
private individuals. The type of end user will vary depending on the finished
product. Regardless of the industry involved, the downstream process has direct
contact with customers through the finished product.
In the oil and gas industry, the downstream process consists of converting crude oil
into other products and then selling those products to customers. Thus, oil
refineries represent structures that operate within the downstream process.
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6. Oil and Gas
Industry
Upstream
Activities
Searching for oil
& gas
Drilling
exploration
wells
Midstream
Activities
Transportation
Downstream
Activities
Processing &
Refining
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7. References
"Midstream". En.wikipedia.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 16
Feb. 2017.
"The Definitions Of "Upstream" And "Downstream" In
The Production Process". Smallbusiness.chron.com.
N.p., 2017. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.
"Upstream (Petroleum Industry)". En.wikipedia.org.
N.p., 2017. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.
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