[dennyinthegarden]

anyone know if such a thing exists? i'm looking for a text and/or graphical illustration of the economic and physical process by which oil is removed from the ground and then processed into gas and other products.

would be nice to be able to explain this to the everyday joe...

for example... why did gas prices go up today? wasn't this gas sold on the market... probably 4 weeks ago? how did katrina affect today's gas prices... should it not affect the future gas prices that are being sold on the market today and will be at the pumps in set/oct?

so, i imagine a document that illustrates the process in physical terms as well as economic. maybe even a list of companies that are involved with the various stages. does such a document exist? if not, anyone want to help create it?

[pip]

Last time I looked Valero.com had a primer on the refining aspects of your question.