Upstream, Midstream, Downstream

It is safe to say that everyone in the U.S. is involved in the Oil & Gas Industry in some way, whether they realize it or not. The Oil & Gas industry, and those that supply it, employ hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S.   Even more people benefit from the products of the industry. Products include the obvious gasoline and fuel products that most of us put in our cars, asphalt for the roads we ride on, and other fuels such as diesel used to run the equipment used on farms to produce the food we eat. But they also include less obvious products such as synthetic rubbers (think sneakers), fertilizers, preservatives, and plastics for many other products. In fact, just about everything that is manufactured is connected somehow to the oil and gas industry.

In the oil & gas industry, many terms are used that may or may not be recognized by the average user. For example, when you hear the terms Upstream, Midstream or Downstream, do you know what they mean? These terms are related to the three separate stages of oil and gas industry operations.

First, upstream is a part of the industry that includes exploration of oil & gas and the production to extract it from the earth. From searching for the underground oil or gas, to drilling exploratory wells, and eventually operating the wells that extract crude oil or natural gas to the surface, the upstream segment is first in the process.

Next, Midstream refers to the sector of the industry that is responsible for getting the raw product from the extraction point to the point of refining for other uses. This includes storage and transportation, including pipelines and other methods, as well as some process activities, and marketing. This designation is much more prevalent in North America than in other parts of the world because pipelines and storage facilities in the US and Canada are generally privately owned. (In other countries the processes are more integrated.)

Finally, Downstream includes all of the processing that turns the natural resources into finished products that we use every day; fuels such as gasoline, diesel, kerosene, heating oils, plastics, lubricants, chemicals, and synthetic materials. This includes refineries that process crude oil into the fuel that we use. It also includes LNG plants that liquefy natural gas, as well as chemical plants that produce a wide range of agricultural products, medical products, etc.

TechLine Mfg. offers many products to all sectors of the industry. In Upstream common products used are instrument racks, channel, brackets, etc. In the Midstream sector, common products include  instrument stands,  Modracks, angle and other channel products. Finally, in Downstream most of TechLine Mfg.’s products are used, including tubing channel, cable channel and associated support products, instrument stands, condensate pots, air manifolds, and more.