The footprint of petroleum fuels

There are various circumstances, in particular in the context of life cycle analyses (LCA) where it may be desirable to establish the footprint of fossil fuels in terms of cost, energy or greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This legitimate expectation raises a specific problem in the case of petroleum products.

Indeed oil refining, through which they are produced, is a co-production process whereby a number of different products are obtained simultaneously through a complex combination of interrelated physical and chemical processes.