Benzene is normally recovered from aromatic hydrocarbon streams that also contain toluene and mixed xylenes. Benzene is one of the largest-volume petrochemicals and is the largest of the aromatics.
Over the past ten to fifteen years, the rise in crude oil production combined with tightened gasoline emission regulations have led to an increasing amount of benzene supply. Several producers, in countries where no legislation currently exists such as Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and certain countries in Southeast Asia, have begun modernizing refineries to produce compliant fuels to meet specifications in developed markets. As a result, growing quantities of coproduced reformate-based benzene will become available for chemical use