Process for the production of light olefins and aromatics from a hydrocarbon feedstock

1. A process for increasing the production of a light olefin hydrocarbon compound from a hydrocarbon feedstock, consisting of the steps of:

feeding a hydrocarbon feedstock into a reaction area for ring opening, wherein the process conditions prevailing in said reaction area for ring opening are a temperature from 300° C. to 500° C. and a pressure from 2 to 10 MPa together with from 100 to 300 kg of hydrogen per 1,000 kg of feedstock over an aromatic hydrogenation catalyst, wherein said aromatic hydrogenation catalyst comprises from 0.0001 to 5 weight % of one or more metals selected from the group consisting of Ni, W, and Mo,

passing the resulting stream to a ring cleavage unit at a temperature from 200° C. to 600° C. and a pressure from 1 to 12 MPa together with from 50 to 200 kg of hydrogen per 1,000 kg of said resulting stream over a ring cleavage catalyst comprising from 0.0001 to 5 weight % of one or more metals selected from the group consisting of Pd, Ru, Ir, Os, Cu, Co, Ni, Pt, Fe, Zn, Ga, In, Mo, W, and V on a support selected from the group of synthetic zeolites having the characteristics of ZSM-5, ZSM-11, ZSM-12, ZSM-23, Beta and MCM-22;

separating reaction products, which are generated from said reaction area, into an overhead stream and a side stream;

feeding the side stream from (b) to a gasoline hydrocracker (GHC) unit operating at a temperature range of 400-580° C., a Weight Hourly Space Velocity (WHSV) of 0.1-10 h−1 and a pressure range of 0.3-5 MPa,

wherein said gasoline hydrocracker (GHC) unit is operated at a temperature higher than said ring opening reaction area, and wherein said gasoline hydrocracker (GHC) unit is operated at a pressure lower than said ring opening reaction area,

separating reaction products of said GHC of step (c) into an overhead gas stream, comprising C2-C4 paraffins, hydrogen and methane and a stream comprising aromatic hydrocarbon compounds and non-aromatic hydrocarbon compounds,

feeding the overhead gas stream from the gasoline hydrocracker (GHC) unit into a steam cracker unit;

separating reaction products of said steam cracking unit into an overhead stream, comprising C2-C6 alkanes, a middle stream comprising C2-olefins, C3-olefins and C4-olefins, and a first bottom stream comprising predominantly carbon black oil (CBO) and cracked distillates (CD), and a second bottom stream comprising aromatic hydrocarbon compounds and non-aromatic hydrocarbon compounds; and

feeding said first bottom stream into said reaction area for ring opening;

wherein the hydrocarbon feedstock consists of a fraction of at least one member selected from the group consisting of a conventional petroleum having an API gravity of more than 20° API as measured by the ASTM D287 standard and a light crude oil having an API gravity of more than 30° API.