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The ability for crude producers and refiners to take advantage of new or changing market factors has long been determined by their ability to efficiently implement state-of-the-art technology in highly complex, integrated plants. In terms of opportunity crudes processing, technology companies are faced with the challenge of providing reliable processing equipment that can handle heavier feeds with increasing quantities of contaminants. Furthermore, the acidic nature of many new crudes being processed poses additional challenges in terms of corrosion and fouling prevention.
Novel technologies are being deployed upstream—for heavy oil extraction and/or partial upgrading—and downstream—to allow refineries to deal with shifting feedstock without impacting current operations. Upstream techniques largely focus on methods for lowering the viscosity of bitumen-derived crudes and extra-heavy oils via thermal or catalytic means to produce synthetic crude oil (SCO) streams. Downstream technology advances focus on new processing methods and/or improvements to existing residue conversion processes (i.e., coking, visbreaking, resid FCC, resid hydroprocessing, etc.). Looking forward, the success of the technologies discussed here will go a long way in determining the most profitable rout to processing opportunity crude feeds via upstream heavy oil upgrading and in downstream residue processing units.
