Common to all the industries on this list – and many others – is that they use a variety of plastics and polymers derived from petrochemicals. This breadth of practical uses across industries is making petrochemicals one of the largest drivers of global oil demand, according to a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). A vast majority of petrochemicals are obtained from fossil fuels, such as natural gas and crude oil. The rest usually comes from coal and biomass. A major, if not the most important element of the industry is the petrochemical plant itself.
These plants are the powerhouses that convert the natural resources into petrochemicals to be used as the building blocks for other processes and products. Increasingly complex, these plants are both impressive in size and engineering, meeting the growing needs, expectations, and demand of today’s global economy. The process requires energy in huge amounts and involves a distillation phase, in which hydrocarbons are separated from the fossil fuels. The separated hydrocarbons are then sent to facilities called “crackers”. These facilities convert them into useful chemicals, known as “feedstock”.
