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Midstream Oil Operations

Midstream Oil Operations

What Is Midstream?

Midstream is a term used to depict one of the three major phases of oil and gas industry operations. Midstream activities incorporate the processing, putting away, shipping and marketing of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids.

The two other major stages are upstream, which alludes to raw crude oil and natural gas production, and downstream, which alludes to the refining of crude oil into gasoline, diesel, fly, and different fuels. Today, many large oil companies embrace all surges of the cycle and are known as integrated oil companies.

Grasping Midstream Activities

Midstream activities are usually included as part of different operations for a significant part of the global oil and gas industry. The midstream and downstream activities occur after the initial production phase, known as upstream, and through to the endpoint of sale. Many oil and gas companies are considered integrated due to their ability to join upstream, midstream, and downstream activities as part of their overall operations.

The midstream industry assignment is significantly more pervasive in the oil industry in the United States and Canada than in the remainder of the world as a result of the large exclusive oil pipelines and storage facilities in these countries. For instance, the Keystone Pipeline System is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, dispatched in 2010 and presently owned exclusively by TransCanada Corporation. Other absolutely midstream operating companies incorporate names like Oasis Midstream Partners, Sanchez Midstream Partners, Hess Midstream, Magellan Midstream Partners and EQT Midstream Partners. The assignment in the U.S. of crude oil transportation and storage as a separate part of the production chain permits the midstream industry to exist.

Midstream Example

Magellan Midstream Partners states on their website that they own and operate five marine storage terminals situated along waterfront streams with roughly 26 million barrels of aggregate storage capacity and around 1,000,000 barrels of storage jointly owned through their Texas Frontera, LLC joint venture. The marine terminals give distribution, storage, mixing, inventory management and added substance injection services for purifiers, advertisers, traders, and opposite end-clients of petroleum products. These key services presented between raw upstream production and the purifiers are an important part of the midstream business assignment.

In Europe, the transportation and storage of crude will in general be integrated with the upstream production business. Major European oil companies, for example, Shell or BP will more often than not report production and transportation costs together in their annual financial outcomes. Furthermore, numerous European oil pipelines are controlled by legislatures of the countries whose domain they cross or by state-owned oil transportation companies in those countries. This state ownership will in general bring about the shortfall of midstream as a separately assigned part of the oil production value chain.

Features

  • In particular, midstream activities incorporate the storage, processing, and transportation of petroleum products.
  • Midstream alludes to points in the oil production process that falls among upstream and downstream.
  • These may incorporate companies that represent considerable authority in operating big hauler boats, pipelines, or storage facilities.