Styrene Amine Ethylene
Petrochemical plant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Petrochemicals (also known as petroleum distillates; and sometimes abbreviated as petchems[1]) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sources such as maize, palm fruit or sugar cane.






The adjacent diagram schematically depicts the major hydrocarbon sources and processes used in producing petrochemicals.[2][3][9][10]

Petrochemical feedstock sources


Petrochemicals are predominantly made in a few manufacturing locations around the world, for example in Jubail & Yanbu Industrial Cities in Saudi Arabia, Texas & Louisiana in the US, in Teesside in the Northeast of England in the United Kingdom, in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, in Jamnagar, Dahej in Gujarat, India and in Singapore. Not all of the petrochemical or commodity chemical materials produced by the chemical industry are made in one single location but groups of related materials are often made in adjacent manufacturing plants to induce industrial symbiosis as well as material and utility efficiency and other economies of scale. This is known in chemical engineering terminology as integrated manufacturing. Speciality and fine chemical companies are sometimes found in similar manufacturing locations as petrochemicals but, in most cases, they do not need the same level of large scale infrastructure (e.g., pipelines, storage, ports and power, etc.) and therefore can be found in multi-sector business parks.



In 1835, Henri Victor Regnault, a French chemist left vinyl chloride in the sun and found white solid at the bottom of the flask which was polyvinyl chloride. In 1839 Eduard Simon, discovered polystyrene by accident by distilling storax. In 1856, William Henry Perkin discovered the first synthetic dye, Mauveine. In 1888, Friedrich Reinitzer, an Austrian plant scientist observed cholesteryl benzoate had two different melting points. In 1909, Leo Hendrik Baekeland invented bakelite made from phenol and formaldehyde. In 1928 synthetic fuels invented using Fischer-Tropsch process. In 1929, Walter Bock invented synthetic rubber Buna-S which is made up of styrene and butadiene and used to make car tires. In 1933, Otto Röhm polymerized the first acrylic glass methyl methacrylate. In 1935, Michael Perrin invented polyethylene. After World War II, polypropylene was discovered in the early 1950s. In 1937, Wallace Hume Carothers invented nylon. In 1946, he invented Polyester. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles are made from ethylene and paraxylene. In 1938, Otto Bayer invented polyurethane. In 1941, Roy Plunkett invented Teflon. In 1949, Fritz Stastny turned polystyrene into foam. In 1965, Stephanie Kwolek invented Kevlar.[11]


The following is a partial list of the major[according to whom?] commercial petrochemicals and their derivatives:

Chemicals produced from ethylene
Chemicals produced from propylene


Chemicals produced from toluene
Chemicals produced from xylenes

List of petrochemicals

Petrochemicals Fibers Petroleum Chemicals
Basic Feedstock

2-Ethylhexanol (2-EH)
Acetic acid
Acrylonitrile (AN)
Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (dioctyl phthalate)
Dimethyl terephthalate (DMT)
1,2-Dichloroethane (ethylene dichloride or EDC)
Ethylene glycol (EG)
Ethylene oxide (EO)
Formaldehyde Moulding Compound (FMC)
Linear alkyl benzene (LAB)
Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE)
Propylene oxide
Purified terephthalic acid (PTA)
Styrene monomer (SM)
Thermosetting Resin (Urea/Melamine)
Vinyl acetate monomer (VAM)
Vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)

Acrylic fiber
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)
Acrylonitrile styrene (AS)
Polybutadiene (PBR)
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
Polyethylene (PE)
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
Polypropylene (PP)
Polystyrene (PS)
Styrene butadiene (SBR)
Acrylic-formaldehude (AF)
Marine fuel oil
Petroleum refining
Adhesives and sealants
Construction chemicals
Corrosion control chemicals
Cosmetics raw materials
Electronic chemicals and materials
Flavourings, fragrances, food additives
Pharmaceutical drugs
Specialty and industrial chemicals
Specialty and industrial gases
Inks, dyes and printing supplies
Packaging, bottles, and containers
Paint, coatings, and resins
Polymer additives
Specialty and life sciences chemicals
Surfactants and cleaning agents

See also


  1. ^ Kiesche, Liz, "Royal Dutch Shell may take 50% stake in $9B Indian petchem project", Reuters via Seeking Alpha, August 12, 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  4. ^ Rodrigues, Victor de O.; Faro Júnior, Arnaldo C. (2012-09-05). "On catalyst activation and reaction mechanisms in propane aromatization on Ga/HZSM5 catalysts". Applied Catalysis A: General. 435-436: 68–77. doi:10.1016/j.apcata.2012.05.036. ISSN 0926-860X.
  5. ^ Song, Changyeol; Gim, Min Yeong; Lim, Yong Hyun; Kim, Do Heui (2019-09-01). "Enhanced yield of benzene, toulene, and xylene from the co-aromatization of methane and propane over gallium supported on mesoporous ZSM-5 and ZSM-11". Fuel. 251: 404–412. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2019.04.079. ISSN 0016-2361.
  6. ^ Akhtar, M. N.; Al-Yassir, N.; Al-Khattaf, S.; Čejka, Jiří (2012-01-05). "Aromatization of alkanes over Pt promoted conventional and mesoporous gallosilicates of MEL zeolite". Catalysis Today. The 4th Czech-Italian-Spanish (CIS-4) workshop on Molecular Sieves and Catalysis. 179 (1): 61–72. doi:10.1016/j.cattod.2011.06.036. ISSN 0920-5861.
  7. ^ Hassan E. Alfadala, G.V. Rex Reklaitis and Mahmoud M. El-Halwagi (Editors) (2009). Proceedings of the 1st Annual Gas Processing Symposium, Volume 1: January, 2009 – Qatar (1st ed.). Elsevier Science. pp. 402–414. ISBN 978-0-444-53292-3.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Steam Cracking: Ethylene Production (PDF page 3 of 12 pages)
  9. ^ SBS Polymer Supply Outlook
  10. ^ Jean-Pierre Favennec (Editor) (2001). Petroleum Refining: Refinery Operation and Management. Editions Technip. ISBN 2-7108-0801-3.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Timeline – Petrochemicals Europe". Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  12. ^ Han, Y. -F.; Wang, J. -H.; Kumar, D.; Yan, Z.; Goodman, D. W. (2005-06-10). "A kinetic study of vinyl acetate synthesis over Pd-based catalysts: kinetics of vinyl acetate synthesis over Pd–Au/SiO2 and Pd/SiO2 catalysts". Journal of Catalysis. 232 (2): 467–475. doi:10.1016/j.jcat.2005.04.001. ISSN 0021-9517.
  13. ^ Lee, Eo Jin; Lee, Jong Won; Lee, Joongwon; Min, Hyung-Ki; Yi, Jongheop; Song, In Kyu; Kim, Do Heui (2018-06-01). "Ag-(Mo-W)/ZrO2 catalysts for the production of propylene oxide: Effect of pH in the preparation of ZrO2 support". Catalysis Communications. 111: 80–83. doi:10.1016/j.catcom.2018.04.005. ISSN 1566-7367.
  14. ^ [1], "Anti-freeze solution for internal combustion engines", issued 1990-11-12 