The final sector of the oil and natural gas industry is known as ‘downstream.’ This includes everything involved in turning crude oil and natural gas into thousands of finished products we depend on every day. Some of the more obvious products are fuels like gasoline, diesel, kerosene, jet fuels, heating oils and asphalt for building roads. But long-chain hydrocarbons found in both oil and natural gas are used to make far less obvious products like synthetic rubbers, fertilizers, preservatives, containers, and plastics for parts in countless products. Oil and natural gas products are even used to make artificial limbs, hearing aids and flame-retardant clothing to protect firefighters. In fact, paints, dyes, fibers and just about anything that is manufactured has some connection to oil and natural gas.