Production, Reserves, and Price of Crude Oil

Region Crude oil production (million t) 2008 share of total (%) 

At present, worldwide crude oil production is 4 billion tones, with a share of transportation fuels of 60%. The most important region for crude oil production with a share of 32% is the Middle East, followed by North America, the former Soviet Union, and Africa (Table 5.1.25). 

Refining is the processing of crude oil into a relatively small number of complex mixtures of hydrocarbons of high quality. The main products are fuels such as gasoline, diesel oil, jet fuel, and heating oil, but refineries also produce the major feedstocks (naphtha and LPG) for the petrochemical industry, and, therefore, crude oil is also the basis of industrial organic chemistry. The main objectives of a refinery can be briefly summarized as follows. 

Fractions [Gases Naphttia Gasoil E Vacuum distllate 1 Vacuum residue 

The quality of gasoline from distdlation and cracking units is too low for proper combustion in modem engines, and chemical processes are needed to change the structure of the hydrocarbon moletndes to enhance the octane number. With regard to environmental protection, nearly all refinery products have to be desulfurized. 

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