Charting a course downstream
In the petroleum industry, the term downstream refers to those business operations that take place after the search for and the production of crude oil. The actual purchase of crude oil, its transportation to refineries, its refining and the subsequent marketing and distribution of the refined products take place, in industry parlance, downstream. No other industry is required to coordinate the movement of so large a volume of liquids to so many destinations. And few other industries contend with raw material and end-product uncertainties so profound. Both the mixture of available world crude oil supplies and the demand patterns for petroleum products are subject to change. The downstream operations of Marathon Petroleum Company are discussed. The objective is to maximize profitability in the context of constantly changing prices for a variety of products.
- OSTI ID:
- 5392571
- Journal Information:
- Marathon World; (United States), Vol. 21:1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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