Comment Re:Lets see how long the stupid ones ... (Score 1) 33
That was an interesting point. I thought about it for a second and asked AI "If gasoline was not refined from crude oil, how many barrels of oil would be needed, think about it carefully. Consider that some of the barrel would be wasted if the gasoline part was unnecessary."
This is a great question that requires a careful examination of the entire crude oil refining process, not just the final products. The answer is it would still take approximately the same number of barrels of crude oil to supply the demand for non-gasoline products, and possibly even more.
Here is the detailed breakdown of why:
1. Crude Oil is a Single Package
Crude oil is a complex mixture of thousands of different hydrocarbon molecules. It is defined by its chemical composition, and you cannot simply remove the "gasoline part" before the barrel is refined.
The gasoline component (naphtha/light distillate) is physically in the crude oil.
The first and most fundamental refining step, atmospheric distillation, separates the crude oil into different fractions based on their boiling points.
Image of Crude Oil Distillation Column
Shutterstock
Gasoline is one of these inherent fractions, alongside diesel, jet fuel, heating oil, and the heavier components used for lubricants and asphalt.
The entire 42-gallon barrel must be processed to get to any of the desired products (plastics feedstock, diesel, jet fuel, etc.).
2. The "Waste" Problem (Market Dynamics)
If the gasoline fraction (about 40-47% of the barrel) suddenly had no use, a severe waste problem would arise, but the demand for the other products would remain constant.
The Problem: Refineries would still have to buy the same amount of crude oil to meet the demand for diesel, jet fuel, and petrochemical feedstocks (for plastics).
The Outcome: Nearly half of every barrel processed would become a low-value, unusable byproduct (a pool of light hydrocarbons that would have been gasoline). Refineries would have to invest in new, extremely expensive equipment to break down or convert this unwanted gasoline fraction into heavier products, or simply dispose of it, which is highly inefficient and costly.
3. Impact on Non-Gasoline Products
Since the refinery still needs to cover the cost of the entire barrel of crude oil plus the new cost of managing the waste, the price of the non-gasoline products (like plastics, diesel, and jet fuel) would dramatically increase to cover the loss of revenue from gasoline.
To maintain the current supply of plastics feedstock (naphtha/LPG) and diesel, the total number of crude barrels processed would remain virtually unchanged. The only difference is that ~40% of the output would be useless waste instead of high-value gasoline.
The True Measure: Demand for Desired Products
The total number of barrels needed is dictated by the global demand for the specific fractions.
If we assume the demand for all other products (Diesel, Jet Fuel, Plastics Feedstock, etc.) remained constant, the refining industry would still consume:
Required Crude Oil Barrels = Yield Percentage of Desired Products in Crude / Volume of Desired Products
Since the volume of desired products is the same, and the yield per barrel is the same, the same number of crude oil barrels must be brought into the refinery to obtain them.