(252a) Introduction to the Future of Petroleum Industry

The petroleum industry is going through a challenging period with strict economical and environmental constraints. It is important to understand the future of crude oil production and refining and how the industry would survive under different scenarios. Today's technology choices and the upgrading of petrochemical facilities, however, need to be driven by a completely different logic than the existing industry. Current operations were built on the basis that economics of carbon dioxide are only due to fuel cost, and that the environmental aspects of fuel use are dominated by sulfur emissions, nitrous oxides and particulates. The future of regulations and market acceptance look very different in the future in many countries, and these changes are driving huge financial decisions in the refining industry.