Petroleum Chemistry

Industry Issues

A petrochemical industry accordingly is related to that segment of the chemical industry whose products are obtained from petroleum or natural gas hydrocarbons and utilized in chemical markets. It enjoys a dominant position in the chemical industry just for the reason that raw materials of high purity are abundantly available at low cost. Petrochemical are mainly organic in nature. They contain carbon compounds in combination with hydrocarbon, oxygen, nitrogen and other elements. These are differentiated from inorganic compounds or mineral organic which contain elemental carbon, its oxide, metal carbonates and sulphides.

Industrialization plays an important role in the development process of a country. For oil based economy, its significance became more pronounced in view of heavy dependence of these economies on a single resource i.e. oil which is also non-renewable in nature. The growth of these economies has become so much dependent on the oil revenues that even a marginal reduction can cripple down their whole economic structure. Saudi Arabia embarked on a long term industrial planning to develop capital intensive hydrocarbon based industries, in which the country had potential comparative advantage.