A glossary of common terms and abbreviations used in the industry, with links to more in-depth articles on key words
PADD - (Petroleum administration for defense district) a term used to describe different refining regions in the US
Palanca (crude) - a light, sweet crude grade produced in Angola
Panama canal - a major crude oil transit point between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans
Panamax - a class of oil tanker smaller than aframax
Paraffin - straight or branched-chain hydrocarbons (ie they do not contain naphthenes or aromatic rings)
Partial oxidation - (PO) a process for producing hydrogen
Patoka - a major crude oil storage, trading and transportation hub locate in Patoka, IL in the US
Pazflor (crude) - a heavy, sweet crude grade produced in Angola
PDH - (Propane dehydrogenation) a process used to make propylene from propane
Pentane - (C5) - a hydrocarbon made up of 5 carbon atoms that comes from NGLs and crude oil
Permian Basin - a major crude oil production area in West Texas, in the US
Petcoke - the solid carbon byproduct of cracking units such as the the FCC and coker unit
Petrochemicals - the petroleum-derived, commodity chemicals used primarily in the production of plastics and fibers
Petrol - anther name for gasoline, one of the major petroleum products produced from processing crude oil in a petroleum refinery
Petroleum - a naturally occurring mixture of liquid hydrocarbons. In its natural state, crude oil has few direct uses and so must be processed through refining
Petroleum coke - the solid carbon byproduct of cracking units such as the the FCC and coker unit
Petroleum products - the outputs of a petroleum refinery
Pipeline - used to transport crude oil, refined products, and some intermediate streams
Pipestill - (PS) the first step in the the refining process. The primary purpose of the atmospheric distillation tower is to separate crude oil into its components (or distillation cuts, distillation fractions) for further processing by other processing units
Pitch - a general term for heavy vacuum resid material
Planning - the process of making near-term commercial decisions around the refinery so as to maximize refinery profitability
Plantation pipeline - one of the major refined product pipelines that moves gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from the US Gulf Coast to the Southeast US market
Platformer - a type of reformer, the refining process unit that upgrades low-octane heavy naphtha to make gasoline that meets minimum octane requirements
Platts - one of the major oil price reporting agencies (PRAs) and industry news services for crude and refined products (along with Argus)
Plutonio (crude) - a medium, sweet crude grade produced in Angola
PNA - (paraffins, naphthenes and aromatics) a quality measure for naphtha
Poseidon (crude) - a medium, sour crude grade produced in the US
PO - (Partial oxydation) a process for producing hydrogen
Polymer gasoline - a high octane gasoline blendstock produced by the polymer unit
Polymerization unit - a refinery process unit that converts propylene and butylene into a gasoline blend stock by joining two olefin molecules to form one larger olefin called polymer gasoline
PONA - (Paraffins, olefins, naphthenes and aromatics) a quality measure for naphtha
Posted price - prices, typically of crude oil, that buyers and sellers are willing to transact at
Pour point - a measure of the tendency of a fuel to become more viscous and resist flowing when cold
Powerforming - a type of reformer, the refinery process unit that upgrades low-octane heavy naphtha to make gasoline that meets minimum octane requirements.
Power to liquids - (PtL) a process that uses renewable power to produce liquid fuels
PP&E - (Property plant and equipment) the investment made in major hard assets at a refinery
Pressure swing adsorption - (PSA) a common method for purifying hydrogen in a Refining by removing other hydrocarbon gases
Price setting mechanism - how the price of a commodity (or price relationship between multiple commodities) is determined
Price assessment - the determination of the prevailing market price for a crude oil or petroleum product at a point in time
Price reporting agency - (PRA) organizations that assess the going market price of commodities on a daily basis by surveying market participants and tracking transactions
Primary distillation - the first step in the the refining process. The primary purpose of the atmospheric distillation tower is to separate crude oil into its components (or distillation cuts, distillation fractions) for further processing by other processing units
Process chemicals - chemicals used in the the refining process but not converted into products (eg catalysts, process solvents)
Process gain - A common phenomenon in refining where processing results in an increase in volume of product due to a change in density
Process units - individual units within a refinery that perform a specific function
Product grade - A refined product with a very specific quality specification
Products - the outputs of a petroleum refinery
Prompt - a cargo that is available for immediate or very near-term physical delivery
Propane - (C3) the lightest liquid stream produced in a refinery . The propane molecule has three carbon atoms and 8 hydrogen atoms
Propane deasphalting - a refinery process unit that removes asphaltenes from vacuum resid, producing an asphalt product and a resid that can be used for base oil manufacturing or cracker feed
Propane dehydrogenation - (PDH) a process unit used to make propylene from propane
Propylene - (C3=) a three carbon olefin, basically propane with one double bond
PSA - (Pressure swing adsorption) a common method for purifying hydrogen in a refinery by removing other hydrocarbon gases
PtL - (Power to liquids) a process that uses renewable power to produce liquid fuels
Pump price - the retail price that consumers actually see and pay when purchasing fuel at a retail station
Purity products - the major compents in NGL once separated into individual, pure streams (ie, ethane, propane, n-butane, isobutane, natural gasoline)
Put option - a contract that allows the buyer to sell a commodity in the future at a designated price, in exchange for paying a premium
Pygas - (Pyrolisis gasoline) a highly aromatic naphtha produced as a by-product of making ethylene in a steam cracker
Pyrenees (crude) - a heavy, sweet crude grade produced in Australia
Pyrolysis gasoline - (Pygas) a highly aromatic naphtha produced as a by-product of making ethylene in a steam cracker
Pyrolysis oil - a synthetic crude oil made from thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons such as municipal waste, plastics, or forestry residues