what are the various hydrocarbons present in crude oil
40978256
Petroleum microbiology is a branch of microbiology that deals with the study of microorganisms that can metabolize or alter crude or refined petroleum products. These microorganisms, also called hydrocarbonoclastic microorganisms, can degrade hydrocarbons and, include a wide distribution of bacteria, methanogenic archaea, and some fungi. Not all hydrocarbonoclasic microbes depend on hydrocarbons to survive, but instead may use petroleum products as alternative carbon and energy sources. Interest in this field is growing due to the increasing use of bioremediation of oil spills. Applications Bioremediation Bioremediation of oil contaminated soils, marine waters and oily sludges in situ is a feasible process as hydrocarbon degrading microorganisms are ubiquitous and are able to degrade most compounds in petroleum oil. In the simplest case, indigenous microbial communities can degrade the petroleum where the spill occurs. In more complicated cases, various methods of adding nutrients, air, or exogenous microorganisms to the contaminated site can be applied. For example, bioreactors involve the application of both natural and additional microorganisms in controlled growth conditions that yields high biodegradation rates and can be used with a wide range of media. Crude oils are composed of an array of chemical compounds, minor constituents, and trace metals. Making up 50-98% of these petroleum products are hydrocarbons with saturated, unsaturated, or aromatic structures which influence their biodegradability by hydronocarbonclasts. The rate of uptake and biodegradation by these hydrocarbon-oxidizing microbes not only depend on the chemical structure of the substrates, but is limited by biotic and abiotic factors such as temperature, salinity, and nutrient availability in the environment. Alcanivorax borkumensis A model microorganism studied for its role in bioremediation of oil-spill sites and hydrocarbon catabolism is the alpha-proteobacteria Alcanivorax, which degrades aliphatic alkanes through various metabolic activities. Alcanivorax borkumensis utilizes linear hydrocarbon chains in petroleum as its primary energy source under aerobic conditions. When further supplied with sufficient limiting nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphor, it grows and produces surfactant glucolipids to help reduce surface water tension and enhance hydrocarbon uptake.[5] For this reason, nitrates and phosphates are often commercially added to oil-spill sites to engage quiescent populations of A. borkumensis, allowing them to quickly outcompete other microbial populations and become the dominant species in the oil-infested environment. The addition of rate-limiting nutrients promotes the microbe's biodegrading pathways, including upregulation of genes encoding multiple alkane hydroxylases that oxidize various lengths of linear alkanes. These enzymes essentially remove the problematic hydrocarbon constituents of petroleum oil while A. borkumensis simultaneously increases synthesis of anionic glucoproteins, which are used to emulsify hydrocarbons in the environment and increase their bioavailability. The presence of crude oil along with appropriate levels of nitrogen and phosphor catalyzes the removal of petroleum either by mechanisms that enhance the efficiency of substrate uptake or by direct biodegradation of aliphatic chains. Commercial applications Two well-known oil spills exemplify large scale marine bioremediation applications: In 1989, the Exxon Valdez ran aground, spilling 41.6 million liters of crude oil, and launching one of the first major bioremediation efforts for an oil spill. Cleanup of
Petroleum microbiology
17716161
Crude oil is extracted from the bedrock before being processed in several stages, removing natural contaminants and undesirable hydrocarbons. This separation process produces mineral oil, which can in turn be denoted as paraffinic, naphthenic or aromatic. The differences between these different types of oils are not clear-cut, but mainly depend on the predominant hydrocarbon types in the oil. Paraffinic oil, for example, contains primarily higher alkanes, whereas naphthenic oils have a high share of cyclic alkanes in the mixture. Classification Crude oil appears in a host of different forms, which in turn determine how it should be refined. Classification of the crude oil can vary, because different actors have different starting points. For refineries, the interest has been primarily focused on the distribution between the distillation fractions: petrol, paraffin, gas oil, lubricant distillate, etc. Refiners look at the density of the crude oil – whether it is light, medium or heavy – or the sulfur content, i.e. whether the crude oil is “sweet” or “sour”. The general classification of different kinds of crude oil is based on the guidelines drawn up by American Petroleum Institute (API), in which the properties can vary depending on, for example, hydrocarbon composition and sulfur content. 1. General Crude Oil Classification Crude oil classification provides refiners with a rough guide to appropriate processing condition to reach desired products. Terminology like paraffinic, asphaltic, aromatic and naphthenic have been in use for a long time. With the progress of the science of the petroleum, addition of physical and chemical properties has been utilized to further enhance classification of crude oils. 1.1 API gravity Density has always been an important criterion of oils, generally an oil with low density is considered to be more valuable than an oil with higher density due to the fact that if contains more light fractions (i.e. gasoline). Thus, the API gravity or specific gravity is widely used for the classification of crude oils, based on a scheme proposed by the American Petroleum Institute (Table 1). A high API value >30 means a light crude with paraffinic character; a low API value means a heavy crude with increasing aromatic character. Table 1. Classifications of crude oil according to API gravity Low specific gravity ⇒ High °API value = paraffinic High specific gravity ⇒ Low °API value = naphthenic 1.2 UOP characterisation factor, K factor The UOP characterisation factor (Kw) (UOP 375-07), is based on the observation that the specific gravities of the hydrocarbons are related to their H/C ratio (and thus to their chemical character) and that their boiling points are linked to their number of carbon atoms in their molecules. High values of Kw (13-12.5) indicate a predominately paraffinic character of its components; naphthenic hydrocarbons vary between 12-11 and values near 10 indicate aromatic character. 2. Chemical composition The major types of hydrocarbons present in crude oils consist of 1) normal paraffins, 2) branched paraffins (iso-paraffins), 3) cycloparaffins (naphthenes) and 4) aromatics. 3. General Base Oil Classification 3.1 API base stock classification
Naphthenic oil
29544305
Petroleum naphtha is an intermediate hydrocarbon liquid stream derived from the refining of crude oil with CAS-no 64742-48-9. It is most usually desulfurized and then catalytically reformed, which rearranges or restructures the hydrocarbon molecules in the naphtha as well as breaking some of the molecules into smaller molecules to produce a high-octane component of gasoline (or petrol). There are hundreds of different petroleum crude oil sources worldwide and each crude oil has its own unique composition or assay. There are also hundreds of petroleum refineries worldwide and each of them is designed to process either a specific crude oil or specific types of crude oils. Naphtha is a general term as each refinery produces its own naphthas with their own unique initial and final boiling points and other physical and compositional characteristics. Naphthas may also be produced from other material such as coal tar, shale deposits, tar sands, and the destructive distillation of wood. Source The first unit operation (after being desalinated) in a petroleum refinery is the crude oil distillation unit. The overhead liquid distillate from that unit is called virgin or straight-run naphtha and that distillate is the largest source of naphtha in most petroleum refineries. The naphtha is a mixture of many different hydrocarbon compounds. It has an initial boiling point (IBP) of about 35 °C and a final boiling point (FBP) of about 200 °C, and it contains paraffins, naphthenes (cyclic paraffins) and aromatic hydrocarbons ranging from those containing 4 carbon atoms to those containing about 10 or 11 carbon atoms. The virgin naphtha is often further distilled into two streams: a virgin light naphtha with an IBP of about 30 °C and a FBP of about 145 °C containing most (but not all) of the hydrocarbons with six or fewer carbon atoms a virgin heavy naphtha containing most (but not all) of the hydrocarbons with more than six carbon atoms. The heavy naphtha has an IBP of about 140 °C and a FBP of about 205 °C. The virgin heavy naphtha is usually processed in a catalytic reformer, because the light naphtha has molecules with six or fewer carbon atoms—which, when reformed, tend to crack into butane and lower molecular weight hydrocarbons that are not useful as high-octane gasoline blending components. Also, the molecules with six carbon atoms tend to form aromatics, which is undesirable because the environmental regulations of a number of countries limit the amount of aromatics (most particularly benzene) in gasoline. Types of virgin naphthas The table below lists some typical virgin heavy naphthas, available for catalytic reforming, derived from various crude oils. It can be seen that they differ significantly in their content of paraffins, naphthenes and aromatics: Cracked naphthas Some refinery naphthas also contain some olefinic hydrocarbons, such as naphthas derived from the fluid catalytic cracking, visbreakers and coking processes used in many refineries. Those olefin-containing naphthas are often referred to as cracked naphthas. In some (but not all) petroleum refineries, the cracked naphthas are desulfurized and catalytically reformed (as
Petroleum naphtha
1687153
Petroleum geochemistry is a branch of geochemistry (the application of chemical concepts to understand geological systems) which deals specifically with petroleum and its origin, generation, and accumulation, as well as its extraction, refinement, and use. Petroleum, also known as crude oil, is a solid, liquid, and/or gaesous mix of hydrocarbons. These hydrocarbons are from the burial and metamorphosis of organic matter from millions of years ago; the organic matter is from marine animals, plants, and algae. Petroleum is extracted from the Earth (above or below its surface, depending on the geology of the formation), refined, and used as an energy source. Crude oil is most commonly organised into four types - light, heavy, sweet, and sour. Petroleum is a non-renewable energy source (also known as a "fossil fuel"), so the efficacy of extraction and refining is important for its continued use; multiple techniques are used to detect and to extract crude oil, based on the source rock it is found in and the type of oil itself. Types of Petroleum Petroleum is differentiated into types based on its American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity and by how much sulphur it contains. API Gravity The API gravity of a crude oil is a measurement of purity - i.e., amount of impurities, such as sulphur, nitrogen, or oxygen. Impurities increase the density of the crude. Light Crude Oil Light crude oils have higher API gravity figures, due to having fewer impurities. It is more commonly used to produce diesel and gasoline than heavier oils are. Due to its lower viscosity, it is easier to extract and to transport. Heavy Crude Oil Heavy crude oils have lower API gravity figures, and a larger percentage of impurities. It is used in the making of heavier outputs - e.g., asphalt - and has a higher viscosity, making it more difficult to transport and extract. Sulphur Content How 'sweet' or 'sour' a crude oil is is based on the amount of sulphur it contains. Sweet Crude Oil 'Sweet' crude oil has lower sulphur content - lower than 0.5%. It can be refined into kerosene, high-quality diesel, and gasoline. Sour Crude Oil 'Sour' crude oil has high natural sulphur content (at least 0.5%). Extra treatment is required in the refining process; impurities are removed to refine the crude into gasoline. Due to the greater cost associated, it is more commonly refined into fuel oil and diesel - less valuable outputs than products of sweet crude oil. Hydrocarbon Compounds The three main hydrocarbon compounds in petroleum are paraffins, naphthenes, and aromatics. Paraffins Paraffinic hydrocarbons are part of the alkane series, and are the most common hydrocarbon found in crude oil. Paraffins are often a part of gasoline, making them comparatively more valuable. Paraffinic hydrocarbons are also known as alkanes, and are represented by the formula CnH2n+2, where n is a positive integer. Naphthenes Naphthenic hydrocarbons are saturated cyclic hydrocarbons, and are very important in the refining of liquid crude oil. Also known as cyclic alkanes, they are represented by
Petroleum geochemistry
613606
Natural-gas condensate, also called natural gas liquids, is a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids that are present as gaseous components in the raw natural gas produced from many natural gas fields. Some gas species within the raw natural gas will condense to a liquid state if the temperature is reduced to below the hydrocarbon dew point temperature at a set pressure. The natural gas condensate is also called condensate, or gas condensate, or sometimes natural gasoline because it contains hydrocarbons within the gasoline boiling range, and is also referred to by the shortened name condy by many workers on gas installations. Raw natural gas used to create condensate may come from any type of gas well such as: Crude oil wells: Natural gas that comes from crude oil wells is typically called associated gas. This gas could exist as a separate gas cap above the crude oil in the underground reservoir or could be dissolved in the crude oil, ultimately coming out of solution as the pressure is reduced during production. Condensate produced from oil wells is often referred to as lease condensate. Dry gas wells: These wells typically produce only raw natural gas that contains no condensate with little to no crude oil and are called non-associated gas. Condensate from dry gas is extracted at gas processing plants and is often called plant condensate. Condensate wells: These wells typically produce raw natural gas along with natural gas liquid with little to no crude oil and are called non-associated gas. Such raw natural gas is often referred to as wet gas. Composition There are many condensate sources, and each has its own unique gas condensate composition. In general, gas condensate has a specific gravity ranging from 0.5 to 0.8, and is composed of hydrocarbons such as propane, butane, pentane, and hexane. Natural gas compounds with more than two carbon atoms exist as liquids at ambient temperatures and pressures. Propane, butane, and isobutane are liquid at normal temperatures only under pressure. Additionally, condensate may contain: Heavier straight-chain alkanes having from 7 to 12 carbon atoms (denoted as to ) Hydrogen sulfide () Thiols traditionally also called mercaptans (denoted as RSH, where R is an organic group such as methyl, ethyl, etc.) Carbon dioxide () Cyclohexane and perhaps other naphthenes BTX (chemistry) (Aromatics such as benzene, toluene, xylenes, and ethylbenzene) Separating the condensate from the raw natural gas There are hundreds of different equipment configurations to separate natural gas condensate from raw natural gas. The schematic flow diagram to the right depicts just one of the possible configurations. The raw natural gas feedstock from a gas well or a group of wells is cooled to lower the gas temperature to below its hydrocarbon dew point at the feedstock pressure. This condenses a large part of the gas condensate hydrocarbons. The feedstock mixture of gas, liquid condensate and water is then routed to a high pressure separator vessel where the water and the raw natural gas are separated and removed. If a pressure
Natural-gas condensate
37362922
Diamantane (also called congressane) is an organic compound that is a member of the diamondoids. These are cage hydrocarbons with structures similar to a subunit of the diamond lattice. It is a colorless solid that has been a topic of research since its discovery in oil and separation from deep natural gas condensates. Diamondoids such as diamantane exhibit unusual properties, including low surface energies, high densities, high hydrophobicities, and resistance to oxidation. Occurrence and history Diamantane occurs naturally in crude petroleum. It is currently assumed that adamantanes and diamantanes were formed via the catalytic rearrangements of polycyclic naphthenic hydrocarbons. Although present in only trace concentrations in typical oils, due to their great thermodynamic stability, diamondoids such as diamantane are naturally concentrated by catagenesis, becoming important constituents of some natural gas condensates including those from the Norphlet Formation, U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and the Western Canada Basin. Diamantane was chosen as the Congress Emblem of the 1963 London IUPAC meeting, and was featured as a decoration on the cover of abstracts, program, and publicity material. Congress participants were challenged to synthesize diamantane. The first preparation of this chemical was achieved in 1965 in 1% yield by aluminum halide-catalyzed isomerization of a mixture of norbornene photodimers. Adamantane was the first, and "Congressane", as diamantane came to be known, was only the second member of an entire family of compounds known as the diamandoids. The synthesis of the third member of the series in 1969 emphasized the need for a more general scheme of semitrivial nomenclature. The compound was renamed "diamantane" and the third member designated "triamantane". The year 1966 also marked the isolation of diamantane from the high-boiling fractions of the crude oil of Hodonin (from which adamantane was discovered) and the achievement of a significant improvement in its yield (to 10%). While this permitted a start to be made in the exploration of the chemistry of diamantane, the hydrocarbon was still difficult to obtain in quantity. Diamantane then became as readily available as adamantane and its chemistry could be studied more easily. Production Diamantane can be prepared by Lewis acid catalyzed rearrangements of various pentacyclic tetradecanes. The best yield (84%) can obtained from trans-tetrahydro-Binor-S. A convenient synthetic procedure involves rearrangement of a hydrogenated Binor-S compound, which gives diamantane in ~70% yield. Other more highly strained precursors give diamantane in lower yield (1-47%) owing to disproportionation. The convenient, synthetic route begins with the dimerization of norbornadiene (1) catalyzed by a mixture of cobalt bromide-triphenylphosphine and boron trifluoride etherate. The resulting dimer (2) is hydrogenated to give tetrahydro-binor-S-isomers (3a–3d). As a result of sterical interaction, mainly 3a and 3b are given. The next step is a rearrangement, which occurs in a hot solution of cyclohexane or carbon disulfide with aluminum bromide and forms the main product diamantane (4). Diamantane can be produced by thermal cracking of long chained n-alkanes. The mechanism for this conversion is thought to be a free-radical addition. Although this method does produce diamantane that has been alkylated (i.e. monosubstituted,
Diamantane
839134
Butene, also known as butylene, is an alkene with the formula . The word butene may refer to any of the individual compounds. They are colourless gases that are present in crude oil as a minor constituent in quantities that are too small for viable extraction. Butene is therefore obtained by catalytic cracking of long-chain hydrocarbons left during refining of crude oil. Cracking produces a mixture of products, and the butene is extracted from this by fractional distillation. Butene can be used as the monomer for polybutene, but this polymer is more expensive than alternatives with shorter carbon chains such as polypropylene. Polybutene is therefore used in more specialized applications. Butenes are more commonly used to make copolymer (mixed with another monomer such as ethylene). Butenes are major constituents of raffinates, the C4 fractions in oil processing. The raffinates containing butadiene are considered carcinogenic and mutagenic. They can be used as feedstocks for further processing, or used as industrial fuel. Their mixing into LPG for nonindustrial uses sometimes occurs but is generally prohibited. Isomers Among the molecules which have the chemical formula four isomers are alkenes. All four of these hydrocarbons have four carbon atoms and one double bond in their molecules, but have different chemical structures. The IUPAC and common names, respectively, of these chemical compounds are: In the chemical structures above, the small blue numbers in the structure images are the numbering of the atoms in the main backbone chain of the molecules. Other organic compounds have the formula C4H8, namely cyclobutane and methylcyclopropane, but are not alkenes and do not fall under the name butene. There are also cyclic alkenes with four carbon atoms overall such as cyclobutene and two isomers of methylcyclopropene, but they do not have the formula C4H8 and are not discussed here. Properties All four of these isomers are gases at room temperature and pressure, but can be liquefied by lowering the temperature or raising the pressure on them, in a manner similar to pressurised butane. These gases are colourless, do have distinct odours, and are highly flammable. Although not naturally present in petroleum in high percentages, they can be produced from petrochemicals or by catalytic cracking of petroleum. Although they are stable compounds, the carbon-carbon double bonds make them more reactive than similar alkanes, which are more inert compounds in various ways. Because of the double bonds, these 4-carbon alkenes can act as monomers in the formation of polymers, as well as having other uses as petrochemical intermediates. They are used in the production of synthetic rubber. But-1-ene is a linear or normal alpha-olefin and isobutylene is a branched alpha-olefin. In a rather low percentage, but-1-ene is used as one of the comonomers, along with other alpha-olefins, in the production of high-density polyethylene and linear low-density polyethylene. Butyl rubber is made by cationic polymerisation of isobutylene with about 2 - 7% isoprene. Isobutylene is also used for the production of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and isooctane, both of which improve the combustion
Butene
43804874
Base oils are used to manufacture products including lubricating greases, motor oil and metal processing fluids. Different products require different compositions and properties in the oil. One of the most important factors is the liquid’s viscosity at various temperatures. Whether or not a crude oil is suitable to be made into a base oil is determined by the concentration of base oil molecules as well as how easily these can be extracted. Base oil is produced by means of refining crude oil. This means that crude oil is heated in order to separate various distillates from one another. During the heating process, light and heavy hydrocarbons are separated – the light ones can be refined to make petrol and other fuels, while the heavier ones are suitable for bitumen and base oils. There are large numbers of crude oils all around the world that are used to produce base oils. The most common one is a type of paraffinic crude oil, although there are also naphthenic crude oils that create products with better solubility and very good properties at low temperatures. By using hydrogenation technology, in which sulfur and aromatics are removed using hydrogen under high pressure, extremely pure base oils can be obtained, which are suitable when quality requirements are particularly stringent. Chemical substances – additives – are added to the base oil in order to meet the quality requirements for the end products in terms of, for example, friction and cleaning properties. Certain types of motor oils contain more than twenty percent additives. Production of mineral base oils Mineral base oils are first distilled from petroleum, and they comprise the 26-40 carbon fraction. Aromatic compounds are initially removed by solvent extraction: The distillation cut is mixed with an immiscible solvent such as phenol or furfural. This solvent preferentially dissolves aromatic compounds well, and the aromatic compounds are separated together with the solvent. Long chain alkanes form waxes that precipitate at relatively high temperature. They are removed either by crystallizing the waxes at low temperature, or they can be isomerized to branched alkanes. Various levels of hydrogenation are used thereafter to remove any remaining aromatic compounds and residual heteroatoms (in the form of nitrogen and sulfur compounds). Very generally, heteroatoms (as nitrogen and sulfur compounds) and aromatic compounds are removed as the base oil is hydrogenated from Group I through Group III. Reduction in heteroatoms reduces formation of acids when engine oils are exposed to the combustion environment, acids being corrosive to the engine. The reduction in aromatic compounds improves the oxidative stability of the oil, delaying formation of sludge and varnish. Yet both effects lead to the oil becoming less polar, making it a poorer solvent for both the additive package of an engine oil, as well as accumulated oxidation byproducts. API classifications In 1993, the American Petroleum Institute (API), categorized base oils into five main groups. Chemical and physical characteristics are defined for Groups I through III that reflect how refined they are, correlating in some way
Base oil
3022936
Asphaltenes are molecular substances that are found in crude oil, along with resins, aromatic hydrocarbons, and saturates (i.e. saturated hydrocarbons such as alkanes). The word "asphaltene" was coined by Boussingault in 1837 when he noticed that the distillation residue of some bitumens had asphalt-like properties. Asphaltenes in the form of asphalt or bitumen products from oil refineries are used as paving materials on roads, shingles for roofs, and waterproof coatings on building foundations. Composition Asphaltenes consist primarily of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur, as well as trace amounts of vanadium and nickel. The C:H ratio is approximately 1:1.2, depending on the asphaltene source. Asphaltenes are defined operationally as the n-heptane ()-insoluble, toluene ()-soluble component of a carbonaceous material such as crude oil, bitumen, or coal. Asphaltenes have been shown to have a distribution of molecular masses in the range of 400 u to 1500 u, but the average and maximum values are difficult to determine due to aggregation of the molecules in solution. Analysis The molecular structure of asphaltenes is difficult to determine because the molecules tend to stick together in solution. These materials are extremely complex mixtures containing hundreds or even thousands of individual chemical species. Asphaltenes do not have a specific chemical formula: individual molecules can vary in the number of atoms contained in the structure, and the average chemical formula can depend on the source. Although they have been subjected to modern analytical methods, including SARA, mass spectrometry, electron paramagnetic resonance and nuclear magnetic resonance, the exact molecular structures are difficult to determine. Given this limitation, asphaltenes are composed mainly of polyaromatic carbon ring units with oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur heteroatoms, combined with trace amounts of heavy metals, particularly chelated vanadium and nickel, and aliphatic side chains of various lengths. Many asphaltenes from crude oils around the world contain similar ring units, as well as polar and non-polar groups, which are linked together to make highly diverse large molecules. Asphaltene after heating have been subdivided as: nonvolatile (heterocyclic N and S species), and, volatile (paraffin + olefins, benzenes, naphthalenes, phenanthrenes, several others). Speight reports a simplified representation of the separation of petroleum into the following six major fractions: volatile saturates, volatile aromatics, nonvolatile saturates, nonvolatile aromatics, resins and asphaltenes. He also reports arbitrarily defined physical boundaries for petroleum using carbon-number and boiling point. Geochemistry Asphaltenes are today widely recognised as dispersed, chemically altered fragments of kerogen, which migrated out of the source rock for the oil, during oil catagenesis. Asphaltenes had been thought to be held in solution in oil by resins (similar structure and chemistry, but smaller), but recent data shows that this is incorrect. Indeed, it has recently been suggested that asphaltenes are nanocolloidally suspended in crude oil and in toluene solutions of sufficient concentrations. In any event, for low surface tension liquids, such as alkanes and toluene, surfactants are not necessary to maintain nanocolloidal suspensions of asphaltenes. The nickel to vanadium ratio of asphaltenes reflect the pH and Eh conditions of the paleo-depositional
Asphaltene
31834473
Associated petroleum gas (APG), or associated gas, is a form of natural gas which is found with deposits of petroleum, either dissolved in the oil or as a free "gas cap" above the oil in the reservoir. The gas can be utilized in a number of ways after processing: sold and included in the natural-gas distribution networks, used for on-site electricity generation with engines or turbines, reinjected for secondary recovery and used in enhanced oil recovery, converted from gas to liquids producing synthetic fuels, or used as feedstock for the petrochemical industry, but much of it worldwide is flared. Composition APG is primarily a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules that are classified as alkanes. The following table lists typical percentages of the major alkanes in APG, and includes the typical levels of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Water (wet gas) and hydrogen sulfide (sour gas) contaminate APG at more varied levels. Helium is present in significant amounts in some cases, and is a relatively valuable by-product. APG is processed to separate out most other components before the methane-rich gas is sold into natural-gas distribution networks. Uses Like crude oil, APG is both a primary energy resource and a primary commodity that enables much of the modern world economy. Statistics from the International Energy Agency show that the natural-gas supplies steadily increased during 1990-2017 to meet the demands of expanding global population and consumerism. APG is nevertheless a finite fossil fuel, and the crossing of planetary boundaries could impose earlier limits on its value and usefulness. Following extraction, petroleum companies prefer to transport both crude oil and APG to their respective refiners for processing and distribution to consumers. Most modern wells are planned to include gas pipeline transport, but some oil wells are drilled only to get the more lucrative oil, in which case the options are to locally use, process, or dispose of the APG. A traditional local use is to re-inject the gas for storage, and to re-pressurize the well to extend the oil production lifetime. On-site processing with various mobile systems also exist for producing natural gas liquids (NGL), compressed natural gas (CNG), liquified natural gas (LNG), and gas to liquids (GTL) fuels that can be transported by truck or ship. Electricity generation from on-site microturbines and engines is also compatible with minimally processed APG. Flaring Historically APG was, and still may be, a waste product from the petroleum extraction industry. It may be a stranded gas reserve due to the remote location of the oil field, either at sea or on land. The gas is then simply vented or, preferably, burnt off in gas flares. When this occurs it is referred to as flare gas. APG flaring is controversial since it is a pollutant, a source of global warming and a waste of a finite fuel source. APG is flared in many countries where there are significant power shortages. In the United Kingdom, gas may not be flared without written consent from the UK government to prevent unnecessary waste
Associated petroleum gas
43220776
Naftalan or Naphtalan is a type of crude oil. It is named after Naftalan, Azerbaijan, where it is found. It is known for its use in alternative medicine. Naftalan crude oil is too heavy for normal export uses (unlike Azerbaijan's plentiful Caspian Sea oil): it contains about 50 percent cycloalkanes (naphthenic hydrocarbons). In Azerbaijan, people using the oil generally sit in a bath and are covered in oil up to their necks. There are numerous petroleum spas in the city of Naftalan itself. As a result, it has become a destination for health tourism. History Naftalan oil has been used since antiquity and was noted by Marco Polo. Its chemistry has been studied from the 1870s. Treatment centres were established in Azerbaijan and were visited by people from the Soviet Union. Its therapeutic effects have been studied since the 1890s. After the oil boom at the turn of the 20th century, the Baku naftalan started to be extracted in higher volumes, and exported to Germany. After the borders were closed following the 1917 Russian Revolution, it fell into oblivion in the West. It still attracted some attention in the Soviet Union, when the Azerbaijan Medical University opened a small health resort that was in full operation by 1936. In the 1930s, academician T. G. Pashayev started to try to isolate naphthalan from industrial paraffin and naphthenic oils and proposed the term, though more current research indicates that the term "earth mineral oil" is more appropriate for what he described in his paper published in Moscow in 1959. During the 20th century, a large number of academic papers were published by Soviet researchers about the topic. Nevertheless, in Europe the results from the Naphthalan Health Resort in Azerbaijan were largely rejected because the idea of the application of native oil to human subjects was not acceptable. In the 1970s, the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb conducted its own research to compare the kinds of oil found near Baku and near Križ, Croatia. After two years, in 1978, they concluded that the oil they analyzed was not carcinogenic, after testing at INA labs and at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, and conducting a trial with 770 patients. In 1989 the Naftalan Special Hospital for Medical Rehabilitation was founded in Ivanić Grad. Their use of naphtalan oil is restricted to a refined distillate, devoid of tar, aromatic content and other undesired substances, in an effort to minimize the rate of contraindications and side effects. This hospital later conducted a 10-year follow-up and observation of 10,000 of their patients and respective associated data, and reportedly observed a number of therapeutic effects. As recently as 2006, the New York Times published an article referring to naftalan as mostly naphthalene, which would be carcinogenic to humans. In 2009, The Independent described one of the spas, repeating the claim about the composition of the oil. Composition of the oil Naftalan oil is a type of heavy crude oil, a dense and viscous mixture with components including aromatics,
Naftalan oil
16638855
Unresolved complex mixture (UCM), or hump, is a feature frequently observed in gas chromatographic (GC) data of crude oils and extracts from organisms exposed to oil. The reason for the UCM hump appearance is that GC cannot resolve and identify a significant part of the hydrocarbons in crude oils. The resolved components appear as peaks while the UCM appears as a large background/platform. In non-biodegraded oils the UCM may comprise less than 50% of the total area of the chromatogram, while in biodegraded oils this figure can rise to over 90%. UCMs are also observed in certain refined fractions such as lubricating oils and references therein. One reason why it is important to study the nature of UCMs is that some have been shown to contain toxic components, but only a small range of known petrogenic toxicants, such as the USEPA list of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), tend to be routinely monitored in the environment. Analysis of the hydrocarbon fraction of crude oils by GC reveals a complex mixture containing many thousands of individual components. Components that are resolved by GC have been extensively studied e.g. However, despite the application of many analytical techniques the remaining components have, until very recently, proved difficult to separate due to the large numbers of co-eluting compounds. Gas chromatograms of mature oils have prominent n-alkane peaks which distract attention from the underlying unresolved complex mixture (UCM) of hydrocarbons often referred to as the ‘hump’. Processes such as weathering and biodegradation result in a relative enrichment of the UCM component by removal of resolved components and the creation of new compounds. It has been shown that both resolved and unresolved components of oils are subject to concurrent biodegradation, i.e. it is not a sequential process, but due to the recalcitrant nature of some components, the rates of biodegradation of individual compounds greatly varies. The UCM fraction often represents the major component of hydrocarbons within hydrocarbon-polluted sediments (see reference therein) and biota e.g. A number of studies has now demonstrated that aqueous exposure to components within the UCM can affect the health of marine organisms, including possible hormonal disruption, and high concentrations of environmental UCMs have been strongly implicated with impaired health in wild populations. Weathering and biodegradion of oils within the marine environment Environmental UCMs result from highly degraded petroleum hydrocarbons and once formed they can stay largely unchanged in sediments for many years. For example, in 1969 a diesel oil spill contaminated saltmarsh sediment within Wild Harbor River, US; by 1973 only a baseline hump was observed, which remained largely unchanged within the anaerobic sediment for the next 30 years. In a study of the potential for UCM-dominated oil to be further degraded, it was concluded that even using bacteria specifically adapted for complex UCM hydrocarbons in conjunction with nutrient enrichment, biodegradation rates would still be relatively slow. Bacterial degradation of hydrocarbons is complex and will depend on environmental conditions (e.g. aerobic or anaerobic, temperature, nutrient availability, available species of bacteria etc.). Analysis
Unresolved complex mixture
50566309
Oil pollution toxicity to marine fish has been observed from oil spills such as the Exxon Valdez disaster, and from nonpoint sources, such as surface runoff, which is the largest source of oil pollution in marine waters. Crude oil entering waterways from spills or runoff contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the most toxic components of oil. The route of PAH uptake into fish depends on many environmental factors and the properties of the PAH. The common routes are ingestion, ventilation of the gills, and dermal uptake. Fish exposed to these PAHs exhibit an array of toxic effects including genetic damage, morphological deformities, altered growth and development, decreased body size, inhibited swimming abilities and mortality. The morphological deformities of PAH exposure, such as fin and jaw malformations, result in significantly reduced survival in fish due to the reduction of swimming and feeding abilities. While the exact mechanism of PAH toxicity is unknown, there are four proposed mechanisms. The difficulty in finding a specific toxic mechanism is largely due to the wide variety of PAH compounds with differing properties. History Research on the environmental impact of the petroleum industry began in earnest, during the mid to late 20th century, as the oil industry developed and expanded. Large scale transport of crude oil increased as a result of the increasing worldwide demand for oil, subsequently increasing the number of oil spills. Oil spills provided perfect opportunities for scientists to examine the in situ effects of crude oil exposure to marine ecosystems, and collaborative efforts between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the United States Coast Guard resulted in improved response efforts and detailed research on oil pollution's effects. The Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, both resulted in increased scientific knowledge on the specific effects of oil pollution toxicity to marine fish. Exxon Valdez oil spill Focused research on oil pollution toxicity to fish began in earnest in 1989, after the Exxon Valdez tanker struck a reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska and spilled approximately 11 million gallons of crude oil into the surrounding water. At the time, the Exxon Valdez oil spill was the largest in the history of the United States. There were many adverse ecological impacts of the spill including the loss of the loss of billions of Pacific herring and pink salmon eggs. Pacific herring were just beginning to spawn in late March when the spill occurred, resulting in nearly half of the population's eggs being exposed to crude oil. Pacific herring spawn in the intertidal and subtidal zones, making the vulnerable eggs easily exposed to pollution. Deepwater Horizon oil spill After April 20, 2010, when an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon Macondo oil drilling platform triggered the largest oil spill in US history, another opportunity for oil toxicity research was presented. Approximately 171 million gallons of crude oil flowed from the seafloor into the Gulf of Mexico, exposing the majority of the surrounding biota. The Deepwater Horizon oil
Oil pollution toxicity to marine fish
2444991
Light crude oil is liquid petroleum that has a low density and flows freely at room temperature. It has a low viscosity, low specific gravity and high API gravity due to the presence of a high proportion of light hydrocarbon fractions. It generally has a low wax content. Light crude oil receives a higher price than heavy crude oil on commodity markets because it produces a higher percentage of gasoline and diesel fuel when converted into products by an oil refinery. Varying standards The clear cut definition of light and heavy crude varies because the classification is based more on practical grounds than theoretical. The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) defines light crude oil for domestic U.S. oil as having an API gravity between 37° API (840 kg/m3) and 42° API (816 kg/m3), while it defines light crude oil for non-U.S. oil as being between 32° API (865 kg/m3) and 42° API (816 kg/m3). The National Energy Board of Canada defines light crude oil as having a density less than 875.7 kg/m3 (API gravity greater than 30.1° API). The government of Alberta, the province which produces most of the oil in Canada, disagrees and defines it as oil with a density less than 850 kg/m3 (API gravity greater than 35° API) The Mexican state oil company, Pemex, defines light crude oil as being between 27° API (893 kg/m3) and 38° API (835 kg/m3). This variation in definition occurred because countries such as Canada and Mexico tend to have heavier crude oils than are commonly found in the United States, whose large oil fields historically produced lighter oils than are found in many other countries. Canada also uses the SI of units to measure oil rather than American oil industry conventional units, and the base temperature for density calculations is different in Canada at than the US at , resulting in slightly different density values. Examples of light crude oils A wide variety of benchmark crude oils worldwide are considered to be light. The most prominent in North America is West Texas Intermediate which has an API gravity of 39.6° API (827 kg/m3). It is often referred to by publications when quoting oil prices. The most commonly referenced benchmark oil from Europe is Brent Crude, which is 38.06° API (835 kg/m3). The third most commonly quoted benchmark is Dubai Crude, which is 31° API (871 kg/m3). This is considered light by Arabian standards but would not be considered light if produced in the U.S. The largest oil field in the world, Saudi Arabia's Ghawar field, produces light crude oils ranging from 33° API (860 kg/m3) to 40° API (825 kg/m3) U.S. price In the United States, the price of the front month light sweet crude oil futures contract, traded on the NYMEX commodity exchange (symbol CL), is widely reported as a proxy for the cost of imported crude oil. These contracts have delivery dates in all 12 months of the year. From below $20 a barrel in early 2002, it rose
Light crude oil
2234338
Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ: CLMT) is a publicly traded U.S.-based company that was incorporated in 1919. It specializes in the manufacture of lubricating oils, solvents, waxes, packaged and synthetic specialty products, fuels and fuel-related products. The company operates 12 production, blending, and packaging facilities across North America. This includes locations in Princeton, Cotton Valley, and Shreveport, Louisiana; Burnham, Illinois; Dickinson, Texas; Muncie, Indiana; Karns City, Pennsylvania; and Great Falls, Montana. Calumet's specialized hydrocarbon products are distributed around the world to approximately 2,700 global customers. Products Calumet is a producer of specialty hydrocarbon products. The company processes crude oil and other feedstocks into a wide variety of customized lubricating oils, solvents, waxes, synthetic lubricants, and other products. Calumet's specialty products are sold to domestic and international customers who purchase them primarily as raw material components for various industrial and consumer applications. Calumet also blends, packages, and markets specialty products through their Royal Purple, Bel-Ray, and TruFuel brands. Calumet's fuel products segment processes crude oil into a variety of fuel and fuel-related products, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt, and others, and occasionally resells purchased crude oil to third-party customers. Calumet's portfolio includes: Base Oils, which are refined from crude oil and used in a wide variety of end-use products, such as adhesives, paints and coatings, and lubricants. Calumet makes numerous naphthenic and paraffinic oil products. Solvents from Calumet are used for a large number of applications, such as adhesives, water treatment facilities, paints and coatings, aluminum rolling and printing ink. Polyol Esters are used for high-performance lubrication applications, including in the aviation and automotive industries. Calumet specializes in synthetic polyol esters. Gelled Hydrocarbons are essentially highly refined hydrocarbon products that are thickened into a gel using special polymer additives. The thickness varies according to which and how much polymer is introduced. Gelled hydrocarbons are used extensively in the cosmetics industry as thickeners for, among other products, lotions, shampoos and lip glosses. Petrolatums are semisolid compounds used in cosmetics such as skin conditioners and moisturizers. Its water repellent qualities make it ideal for sealing in moisture. White Mineral Oils are used as a base emollient, lubricant, release agent, binder, or excipient in numerous product applications. Waxes produced by Calumet include fully refined paraffin waxes, scale wax, slack wax, soft wax, unfinished and finished petrolatum, and microcrystalline waxes that are used for a wide variety of applications, including candles, boxboard saturation and coating, hot melt adhesives, and rubber and PVC processing. The company is one of the last remaining North American producers of these products. Renewable Diesel products will be available from Calumet's Montana Renewables business beginning in 2022. These products, including diesel, gasoline and aviation fuel, are produced from renewable feedstocks such as oil seed crops and food waste byproducts. Finished Lubricants and Chemicals are sold through Calumet's retail brands, including Royal Purple, Bel-Ray, and TruFuel. Fuels including gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. Asphalt is produced at three different Calumet facilities, and is used for everything from road construction and
Calumet Specialty Products Partners
994887
The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline (petrol). Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products, including pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, synthetic fragrances, and plastics. The industry is usually divided into three major components: upstream, midstream, and downstream. Upstream regards exploration and extraction of crude oil, midstream encompasses transportation and storage of crude, and downstream concerns refining crude oil into various end products. Petroleum is vital to many industries, and is necessary for the maintenance of industrial civilization in its current configuration, making it a critical concern for many nations. Oil accounts for a large percentage of the world's energy consumption, ranging from a low of 32% for Europe and Asia, to a high of 53% for the Middle East. Other geographic regions' consumption patterns are as follows: South and Central America (44%), Africa (41%), and North America (40%). The world consumes 36 billion barrels (5.8 km3) of oil per year, with developed nations being the largest consumers. The United States consumed 18% of the oil produced in 2015. The production, distribution, refining, and retailing of petroleum taken as a whole represents the world's largest industry in terms of dollar value. History Prehistory Petroleum is a naturally occurring liquid found in rock formations. It consists of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds. It is generally accepted that oil is formed mostly from the carbon rich remains of ancient plankton after exposure to heat and pressure in Earth's crust over hundreds of millions of years. Over time, the decayed residue was covered by layers of mud and silt, sinking further down into Earth's crust and preserved there between hot and pressured layers, gradually transforming into oil reservoirs. Early history Petroleum in an unrefined state has been utilized by humans for over 5000 years. Oil in general has been used since early human history to keep fires ablaze and in warfare. Its importance to the world economy however, evolved slowly, with whale oil being used for lighting in the 19th century and wood and coal used for heating and cooking well into the 20th century. Even though the Industrial Revolution generated an increasing need for energy, this was initially met mainly by coal, and from other sources including whale oil. However, when it was discovered that kerosene could be extracted from crude oil and used as a lighting and heating fuel, the demand for petroleum increased greatly, and by the early twentieth century had become the most valuable commodity traded on world markets. Modern history Imperial Russia produced 3,500 tons of oil in 1825 and doubled its output by mid-century. After oil drilling began in the region of present-day Azerbaijan in 1846, in Baku, the Russian Empire built two large pipelines: the 833 km long
Petroleum industry
1977933
The oil and gas industry is usually divided into three major sectors: upstream, midstream, and downstream. The downstream sector is the refining of petroleum crude oil and the processing and purifying of raw natural gas, as well as the marketing and distribution of products derived from crude oil and natural gas. The downstream sector reaches consumers through products such as gasoline or petrol, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel oil, heating oil, fuel oils, lubricants, waxes, asphalt, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as well as naphtha and hundreds of petrochemicals. Midstream operations are often included in the downstream category and are considered to be a part of the downstream sector. ISO definition ISO 20815 defines "downstream" in its definition section as: 3.1.8 downstream business process, most commonly in petroleum industry, associated with post-production activities. Example: refining, transportation and marketing of petroleum products. Byproduct sulfur Crude oil is a mixture of many varieties of hydrocarbons and most usually have many sulfur-containing compounds. The oil refining process commonly includes hydrodesulfurization which converts most of that sulfur into gaseous hydrogen sulfide. Raw natural gas also may contain gaseous hydrogen sulfide and sulfur-containing mercaptans, which are removed in natural-gas processing plants before the gas is distributed to consumers. The hydrogen sulfide removed in the refining and processing of crude oil and natural gas is subsequently converted into byproduct elemental sulfur. In fact, the vast majority of the 64,000,000 metric tons of sulfur produced worldwide in 2005 was byproduct sulfur from refineries and natural-gas processing plants. Marketing Marketing is the wholesale and retail distribution of refined petroleum products to business, industry, government, and public consumers. See also Coalbed methane Extraction of petroleum Hydrocarbon exploration Midstream Natural gas Natural-gas condensate Natural gas field Natural-gas processing Petroleum Oil production plant Oil refinery Oil well Upstream (petroleum industry) References Chemical process engineering Natural gas Oil refining Petroleum industry Petroleum production
Downstream (petroleum industry)
6060943
A crude oil assay is the chemical evaluation of crude oil feedstocks by petroleum testing laboratories. Each crude oil type has unique molecular and chemical characteristics. No two crude oil types are identical and there are crucial differences in crude oil quality. The results of crude oil assay testing provide extensive detailed hydrocarbon analysis data for refiners, oil traders and producers. Assay data help refineries determine if a crude oil feedstock is compatible for a particular petroleum refinery or if the crude oil could cause yield, quality, production, environmental and other problems. The assay can be an inspection assay or comprehensive assay. Testing can include crude oil characterization of whole crude oils and the various boiling range fractions produced from physical or simulated distillation by various procedures. Information obtained from the petroleum assay is used for detailed refinery engineering and client marketing purposes. Feedstock assay data are an important tool in the refining process. See also API gravity Cetane index K factor (crude oil refining) Octane rating Petroleum coke PONA number Ramsbottom carbon residue Reid vapor pressure Saturate, aromatic, resin and asphaltene (aka SARA) True vapor pressure References External links Energy Institute Crude Oil Data US Dept. of Energy Assay Manual PDF Oil refining
Crude oil assay
1344979
A visbreaker is a processing unit in an oil refinery whose purpose is to reduce the quantity of residual oil produced in the distillation of crude oil and to increase the yield of more valuable middle distillates (heating oil and diesel) by the refinery. A visbreaker thermally cracks large hydrocarbon molecules in the oil by heating in a furnace to reduce its viscosity and to produce small quantities of light hydrocarbons. (LPG and gasoline). The process name of "visbreaker" refers to the fact that the process reduces (i.e., breaks) the viscosity of the residual oil. The process is non-catalytic. Process objectives The objectives of visbreaking are: Reduce the viscosity of the feed stream: Typically this is the residue from vacuum distillation of crude oil but can also be the residue from hydroskimming operations, natural bitumen from seeps in the ground or tar sands, and even certain high viscosity crude oils. Reduce the amount of residual fuel oil produced by a refinery: Residual fuel oil is generally regarded as a low value product. Demand for residual fuel continues to decrease as it is replaced in its traditional markets, such as fuel needed to generate steam in power stations, by cleaner burning alternative fuels such as natural gas. Increase the proportion of middle distillates in the refinery output: Middle distillate is used as a diluent with residual oils to bring their viscosity down to a marketable level. By reducing the viscosity of the residual stream in a visbreaker, a fuel oil can be made using less diluent and the middle distillate saved can be diverted to higher value diesel or heating oil manufacture. Technology Coil visbreaking The term coil (or furnace) visbreaking is applied to units where the cracking process occurs in the furnace tubes (or "coils"). Material exiting the furnace is quenched to halt the cracking reactions: frequently this is achieved by heat exchange with the virgin material being fed to the furnace, which in turn is a good energy efficiency step, but sometimes a stream of cold oil (usually gas oil) is used to the same effect. The gas oil is recovered and re-used. The extent of the cracking reaction is controlled by regulation of the speed of flow of the oil through the furnace tubes. The quenched oil then passes to a fractionator where the products of the cracking (gas, LPG, gasoline, gas oil and tar) are separated and recovered. Soaker visbreaking In soaker visbreaking, the bulk of the cracking reaction occurs not in the furnace but in a drum located after the furnace called the soaker. Here the oil is held at an elevated temperature for a pre-determined period of time to allow cracking to occur before being quenched. The oil then passes to a fractionator. In soaker visbreaking, lower temperatures are used than in coil visbreaking. The comparatively long duration of the cracking reaction is used instead. Process options Visbreaker tar can be further refined by feeding it to a vacuum fractionator. Here additional heavy gas oil
Visbreaker
3032798
A wet gas is any gas with a small amount of liquid present. The term "wet gas" has been used to describe a range of conditions varying from a humid gas which is gas saturated with liquid vapour to a multiphase flow with a 90% volume of gas. There has been some debate as to its actual definition, and there is currently no fully defined quantitative definition of a wet gas flow that is universally accepted. Wet gas is a particularly important concept in the field of flow measurement, as the varying densities of the constituent material present a significant problem. A typical example of wet gas flows are in the production of natural gas in the oil and gas industry. Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbon compounds with quantities of various non-hydrocarbons. This exists in either a gaseous or liquid phase or in solution with crude oil in porous rock formations. The number of hydrocarbons present in the liquid phase of the wet gas extracted depends on the reservoir temperature and pressure conditions, which change over time as the gas and liquid are removed. Changes in the liquid and gas content also occur when a wet gas is transported from a reservoir at high temperature and pressure to the surface where it experiences a lower temperature and pressure. The presence and changeability of this wet gas can cause problems and errors in the ability to accurately measure the gas phase flowrate. It is important to be able to measure these wet gas flows accurately to quantify production from individual wells and to maximise the use of equipment and resources which will assist with the reduction of costs. Wet gas measurement terms There are a number of specific terms used to describe the characteristics of wet gas flow: Superficial gas velocity is the gas velocity if there were no liquid present in the wet gas flow. In wet gas flows the gas velocity is higher due to a reduction in the pipe area caused by the presence of the liquid. Superficial liquid velocity is the liquid velocity if there were no gas present in the wet gas flow. Liquid load is the ratio of the liquid mass flow rate to the gas mass flow rate and is normally expressed as a percentage. GVF – Gas volume fraction is the ratio of the gas volumetric flow rate to the total volumetric flow rate. LVF – Liquid volume fraction is the ratio of the liquid volumetric flow rate to the total volumetric flow rate. Hold up is the cross sectional area occupied by the liquid in the pipe carrying the wet gas flow. Void fraction is the ratio of the flow area occupied by the gas to the total flow area. Lockhart–Martinelli parameter. Gas is compressible and the density changes significantly with changes in pressure. Liquids, on the other hand, are considered to be incompressible and so their density does not tend to change with a change in pressure. If the
Wet gas
11712344
"Offshore", when used in relation to hydrocarbons, refers to operations undertaken at, or under the, sea in association with an oil, natural gas or condensate field that is under the seabed, or to activities carried out in relation to such a field. Offshore is part of the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry. Offshore activities include searching for potential underground crude oil and natural gas reservoirs and accumulations, the drilling of exploratory wells, and subsequently drilling and operating the wells that recover and bring the crude oil and/or natural gas to the surface. Offshore exploration is performed with floating drilling units, drill ships, semi-submersible installations and jack-up installations. At the surface (either on the seabed or above water) offshore facilities are designed, constructed, commissioned and operated to process and treat the hydrocarbon oil and gas. Permanent oil and gas installations and plant include subsea wellheads and flowlines, offshore platforms and tethered floating installations. Other facilities include storage vessels, tanker ships, and pipelines to transport hydrocarbons onshore for further treatment and distribution. Further treatment and distribution comprise the midstream and downstream sectors of the industry. There are various types of installation used in the development of offshore oil and gas fields and subsea facilities, these include: fixed platforms, compliant towers, semi-submersible platforms, jack-up installations, floating production systems, tension-leg platforms, gravity-based structure and spar platforms. Production facilities on these installations include oil, gas and water separation systems; oil heating, cooling, pumping, metering and storage; gas cooling, treating and compression; and produced water clean-up. Other facilities may include reservoir gas injection and water injection; fuel gas systems; power generation; vents and flares; drains and sewage treatment; compressed air; helicopter fuel; heating, ventilation and air conditioning; and accommodation facilities for the crew. The final phase of offshore operations is the abandonment of wells, the decommissioning and removal of offshore facilities to onshore disposal, and the flushing, cleaning and abandonment of pipelines. See also Deepwater drilling Offshore drilling Offshore oil and gas in the United States Oil platform Oil production plant Semi-submersible platform Submarine pipeline Subsea (technology) References External links Petroleum industry glossary from Saipem Spa. Petroleum industry glossary from Anson Ltd Petroleum geology Oilfield terminology Petroleum industry Underwater mining
Offshore (hydrocarbons)
49505438
Aiteo is Africa’s largest privately-owned integrated energy company. It is involved in various aspects of the energy sector, including oil and gas exploration, production, refining, and marketing. Aiteo operates in West and Southern Africa. History Founded in 1999 by pan-African billionaire Benedict Peters, Aiteo originally operated under the name Sigmund Communnecci Limited. Sigmund Communnecci was primarily engaged in the supply and trading of a wide range of petroleum products. As one of Africa's largest indigenous importers of energy products, Sigmund Communnecci owned and operated a petroleum storage terminal in Abonnema Wharf, Port Harcourt, in Nigeria’s South-South region. In 2008, Sigmund Communnecci rebranded as Aiteo. The change was more than an alteration of its name; it represented a shift in corporate strategy, aiming to elevate the company’s position in the energy industry. With the rebranding, Aiteo expanded its focus, committing to develop a comprehensive range of energy services. This expansion covered the full spectrum of the energy sector, from exploration to the retail delivery of finished petroleum products and electrical power. As of today, Aiteo is a fully integrated energy company. It is actively engaged in the storage, marketing, and distribution of bulk petroleum products, provision of oilfield services, generation and distribution of electricity, large-scale storage of LPG, and an increasingly prominent retail distribution network. Its growth has been characterized by strategic investments and consistent expansion. Aiteo boasts one of the largest privately-owned refined petroleum product storage facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its assets include storage facilities capable of holding over 320 million liters of petroleum products. Key among these are the Port Harcourt terminal with a capacity exceeding 110 million liters and the Apapa terminal, capable of storing 210 million liters. Most significantly, Aiteo is Africa’s largest oil independent. Aiteo produces nearly 100,000 barrels of oil per day from OML 29, a producing conventional oil field located onshore Nigeria, contributing over five percent to Nigeria's daily oil output. In November 2023, Aiteo achieved a significant landmark in the Nigerian oil and gas industry by introducing Nembe, a new crude oil grade, in partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Nembe crude is characterized by its low sulphur content and reduced carbon footprint, attributed to the elimination of flare gas. This makes it align with the stringent specifications of key European buyers. The management and marketing of the Nembe crude stream are undertaken by a joint venture between NNPC and Aiteo Eastern E&P Co. Ltd. This initiative marks the first time a crude marketing venture in Nigeria is exclusively operated by local entities. In January 2024, Aiteo secured a stake in Mozambique’s Mazenga gas block. The deal, formalized through farm-in arrangements with Mozambique’s National Hydrocarbons Company (ENH), positions Aiteo as the operator of the block, which holds some of the largest onshore gas reserves in Sub-Saharan Africa. In February 2024, the Atlantic Council unveiled a three-year initiative targeting critical minerals in Africa, in collaboration with Aiteo. The initiative will feature the creation of a task force dedicated to critical minerals, bringing
Aiteo
5929271
The oil and gas industry is usually divided into three major components: upstream, midstream and downstream. The midstream sector involves the transportation (by pipeline, rail, barge, oil tanker or truck), storage, and wholesale marketing of crude or refined petroleum products. Pipelines and other transport systems can be used to move crude oil from production sites to refineries and deliver the various refined products to downstream distributors. Natural gas pipeline networks aggregate gas from natural gas purification plants and deliver it to downstream customers, such as local utilities. The midstream operations are often taken to include some elements of the upstream and downstream sectors. For example, the midstream sector may include natural gas processing plants that purify the raw natural gas as well as removing and producing elemental sulfur and natural gas liquids (NGL) as finished end-products. Service providers Barge companies Railroad companies Trucking and hauling companies Pipeline transport companies Logistics and technology companies Transloading companies Terminal developers and operators Midstream in ISO standards ISO 20815 defines "midstream" in its definition section as: 3.1.27 midstream business category involving the processing and transportation sectors of petroleum industry. Examples: transportation pipelines, terminals, gas processing and treatment, LNG, LPG, and GTL. See also Coal bed methane Downstream (petroleum industry) Extraction of petroleum Gas field Hydrocarbon exploration Natural Gas Natural gas condensate Natural-gas processing Petroleum Petroleum extraction Oil production plant Oil refinery Oil well Upstream (petroleum industry) References External links "NOV — Midstream Page" Business terms Petroleum transport Oil storage Natural gas Petroleum industry
Midstream
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Railbit is a common blend of bitumen and diluent used for rail transport. Railbit which contains approximately 17% diluents or less. compared to 30% in dilbit. Dilbit can be transported through pipelines but railbit cannot. To prevent solidifying in lower temperatures, both raw bitumen and railbit require insulated rail cars with steam-heated coils. Because it has a smaller percentage of diluents, railbit crude requires special capacity rail unload terminals capable of loading railbit and of handling larger unit trains. By the fall 2013 approximately 25% had that capacity. The U.S. State Department in their 2014 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) regarding the proposed extension to the Keystone Pipeline, acknowledged that, Crude oil by rail Although dilbit has been transported by rail since at least 1998, however, the trend in Canada to transport crude oil by rail was slower than in the United States. According to Statistics Canada there were 60 percent more rail cars transporting crude oil in Canada from February 2012 to February 2013. The destination of approximately 48 percent of the crude oil was exported to the Gulf Coast of the United States; 43 percent went to PADD I and the rest to PADD II and PADD V. Railbit tank cars Sandy Fielden explained the economics behind railbit, dilbit and raw bitumen. Western Canadian crude oil supply In their June 2013 report, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) categorized "the various crude oil types that comprise western Canadian crude oil supply: Various crude oil types Conventional Light Conventional Heavy Upgraded Light Oil Sands Heavy, for example, (Western Canadian Select) Oil Sands Heavy "Oil Sands Heavy includes some volumes of upgraded heavy sour crude oil and bitumen blended with diluent or upgraded crude oil." upgraded heavy sour crude oil bitumen diluted with upgraded light crude oil (also known as "SynBit") synthetic crude oil (SCO) bitumen diluted with condensate (also known as "DilBit"). "Blending for DilBit differs by project but requires approximately a 70:30 bitumen to condensate ratio while the blending ratio for SynBit is approximately 50:50." Railbit "Bitumen volumes transported by rail are currently relatively minor; however, these volumes would require less diluent for blending versus moving by pipeline or may even be transported as raw bitumen." Condensate is a "mixture of mainly pentanes and heavier hydrocarbons. It may be gaseous in its reservoir state but is liquid at the conditions under which its volumes is measured or estimated." This was sent to Copyright examinations on December 19, 2016: Devon Canada Corporation, Devon's Canadian operations, which was established on January 1, 1982, are conducted by Devon Energy's wholly owned subsidiary which is headquartered in downtown Calgary, Alberta. Notes References Proposed energy projects Petroleum geology Unconventional oil Athabasca oil sands Bituminous sands Petroleum industry Economy of Canada Proposed energy infrastructure in Canada
Railbit
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Gabriel Mbega Obiang Lima (born 1975) is an Equatorial Guinean politician who has served as Minister of Finance, Economy and Planning since February 2023. He previously served as Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea. Early life Mbega was born on 2 November 1972 in Mongomo, the son of Teodoro Obiang and Obiang's second wife, Celestina Lima, originally from São Tomé and Príncipe. He graduated with a degree in economics from Alma College, in the United States. He is married to the daughter of Florencio Mayé, Virginia Esther Mayé, and has one son and two daughters. He is a linguist with fluency in the English language, French and Spanish. Political life Mbega has served in the oil and gas sector since 1997. Between 1998 and 2000, he served as Government Representative in the Equity of the State in the Products Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and further functioned as Presidential Advisor for Hydrocarbons. He also served as Secretary of State for Mines and Hydrocarbons from 1999 to 2009 He later became Vice Minister of Mines, Industry and Energy in 2003. He was appointed the Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea on 21 May 2012 and was confirmed in office in June 2016, following a restructuring of the administrative instrument. He has also served as a member of the board of directors of three public energy companies in Equatorial Guinea: SONAGAS, SEGESA and GEPetrol. He continues to serve on the Advisory Board of Africa Oil & Power (AOP). His past positions, experience and initiatives has contributed to advancing the country's oil and gas industry to be one among the five largest in Sub-Saharan Africa. Equatorial Guinea has since 2017, become the 14th Global and 6th African Member State to be part of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). He will be taking over as the president of OPEC in 2023. Achievements Equatorial Guinea in 2007 rolled out an industrialization plan, National Plan Horizon 2020 for the country aimed at a sustainable economy by 2020. Attempts at its implementation saw a partnership with Energy Allied International, a Houston based firm, to advance the petrochemical sector of the country under the leadership of Mbega, then Minister Delegate of the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy, in 2011. The partnership with the firm was projected to create more jobs for citizens. Additionally, Gabriel Obiang Lima supervised the nation's partnership with Royal Vopak, a Dutch storage facilities expert, to build a crude oil storage terminal that will enhance the distribution of crude oil on the island of Bioko. The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons under the leadership of him, has again executed definitive agreements through engagements with major oil and gas industry players, particularly Alen Unit to monetize gas and has launched other successful initiatives including LNG2Africa, the Fortuna FLNG, and the Gas Mega-Hub. With the aim of indulging the local workforce and local businesses into the operations of the oil and gas sector, as well as improving the capacity of citizens and
Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima
2910801
A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence of high heat and pressure in the Earth's crust. Reservoirs are broadly classified as conventional and unconventional reservoirs. In conventional reservoirs, the naturally occurring hydrocarbons, such as crude oil (petroleum) or natural gas, are trapped by overlying rock formations with lower permeability, while in unconventional reservoirs the rocks have high porosity and low permeability, which keeps the hydrocarbons trapped in place, therefore not requiring a cap rock. Reservoirs are found using hydrocarbon exploration methods. Oil field An oil field is an area of accumulated liquid petroleum underground in multiple (potentially linked) reservoirs, trapped as it rises to impermeable rock formations. In industrial terms, an oil field implies that there is an economic benefit worthy of commercial attention. Oil fields may extend up to several hundred kilometers across the surface, meaning that extraction efforts can be large and spread out across the area. In addition to extraction equipment, there may be exploratory wells probing the edges to find more reservoir area, pipelines to transport the oil elsewhere, and support facilities. Oil fields can occur anywhere that the geology of the underlying rock allows, meaning that certain fields can be far away from civilization, including at sea. Creating an operation at an oil field can be a logistically complex undertaking, as it involves the equipment associated with extraction and transportation, as well as infrastructure such as roads and housing for workers. This infrastructure has to be designed with the lifespan of the oil field in mind, as production can last many years. Several companies, such as Hill International, Bechtel, Esso, Weatherford International, Schlumberger Limited, Baker Hughes and Halliburton, have organizations that specialize in the large-scale construction of the infrastructure to support oil field exploitation. The term "oilfield" can be used as a shorthand to refer to the entire petroleum industry. However, it is more accurate to divide the oil industry into three sectors: upstream (crude oil production from wells and separation of water from oil), midstream (pipeline and tanker transport of crude oil) and downstream (refining of crude oil to products, marketing of refined products, and transportation to oil stations). More than 65,000 oil fields are scattered around the globe, on land and offshore. The largest are the Ghawar Field in Saudi Arabia and the Burgan Field in Kuwait, with more than 66 to 104 billion barrels estimated in each. In the modern age, the location of oil fields with proven oil reserves is a key underlying factor in many geopolitical conflicts. Gas field Natural gas originates by the same geological thermal cracking process that converts kerogen to petroleum. As a consequence, oil and natural gas are often found together. In common usage, deposits rich in oil are known as oil fields, and deposits rich in natural gas are called natural gas fields. In general,
Petroleum reservoir
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Naphtha ( or ) is a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture. Generally, it is a fraction of crude oil, but it can also be produced from natural-gas condensates, petroleum distillates, and the fractional distillation of coal tar and peat. In some industries and regions, the name naphtha refers to crude oil or refined petroleum products such as kerosene or diesel fuel. Naphtha is also known as Shellite in Australia. Etymology The word naphtha is from Latin and Ancient Greek (), derived from Middle Persian naft ("wet", "naphtha"), the latter meaning of which was an assimilation from the Akkadian napṭu (see Semitic relatives such as Arabic ["petroleum"], Syriac ܢܰܦܬܳܐ naftā, and Hebrew , meaning petroleum). Antiquity The book of II Maccabees (2nd cent. BC) tells how a "thick water" was put on a sacrifice at the time of Nehemiah and when the sun shone it caught fire. It adds that "those around Nehemiah termed this 'Nephthar', which means Purification, but it is called Nephthaei by the many." This same substance is mentioned in the Mishnah as one of the generally permitted oils for lamps on Shabbat, although Rabbi Tarfon permits only olive oil (Mishnah Shabbat 2). In Ancient Greek, it was used to refer to any sort of petroleum or pitch. The Greek word designates one of the materials used to stoke the fiery furnace in the Song of the Three Children (possibly 1st or 2nd cent. BC). The translation of Charles Brenton renders this as "rosin." The naphtha of antiquity is explained to be a "highly flammable light fraction of petroleum, an extremely volatile, strong-smelling, gaseous liquid, common in oil deposits of the Near East"; it was a chief ingredient in incendiary devices described by Latin authors of the Roman period. Modern period Since the 19th century, Solvent naphtha has denoted a product (xylene or trimethylbenzenes) derived by fractional distillation from petroleum; these mineral spirits, also known as "Stoddard Solvent", was originally the main active ingredient in Fels Naptha laundry soap. The usage of the term "naphtha" during this time typically implies petroleum naphtha, a colorless liquid with a similar odor to gasoline. However, "coal tar naphtha", a reddish brown liquid that is a mixture of hydrocarbons (toluene, xylene, and cumene, etc.), could also be intended in some contexts. Petroleum In older usage, "naphtha" simply meant crude oil, but this usage is now obsolete in English. There are a number of cognates to the word in different modern languages, typically signifying "petroleum" or "crude oil". The Ukrainian and Belarusian word нафта (nafta), Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian "nafta" and the Persian () mean "crude oil". The Russian word (neft') means "crude oil", but нафта (nafta) is a synonym of ligroin. Also, in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Italy, Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia nafta (нафта in Cyrillic) is colloquially used to indicate diesel fuel and crude oil. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, nafta was historically used for both diesel fuel and crude oil, but its use for crude oil is now
Naphtha
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Bonny Light oil was found at Oloibiri in the Niger delta region of Nigeria in 1956 for its commercial use. Due to its features of generating high profit, it is highly demanded by refiners. Bonny light oil has an API of 32.9, classified as light oil. It is regarded as more valuable than the other oils with lower API as more high-value products are produced in the refinement. However, in Nigeria, problems due to oil spillage caused by vandalism, affects both human and the ecosystem in detrimental ways. Some experiments on animals and soil are done to figure out those impacts on organisms. Background Origination Crude oil is a yellow to black colored liquid that exists by nature without artificial factors, observed in geological rock formations underneath the superficial parts of the earth. While the exploration of petroleum began in the late 1930s, the oil for commercial use was found at Oloibiri in the Niger delta region of Nigeria in 1956. As oil exploration has been expanding, light and medium oil like bonny light oil are produced. Searching and exploitation of oil are done in that area which 90% of crude oil production is related to. Bonny light oil has many advantages over sour crudes so that its price is higher. Nigeria has become the eleventh largest country that produces crude oil in the world. The largest buyer of this oil is India, the biggest influence on oil demand growth In addition to India, USA, Spain, and Netherlands are countries that import Bonny light crude oil. Chemical composition The components of crude oil have a wide range, containing hydrocarbons and a mixture of oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen and trace metals. Hydrocarbon of crude oil consists of paraffin, cycloparaffins and aromatic material with at least one benzene ring. Bonny light oil also includes polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Almost all of these elements, such as vanadium, nickel, asphaltenes, and poly-aromatic hydrocarbons are known as toxic. Folkloric uses At first, people attempted to use crude oil for lighting, considering its flammable trait. However, it was not appropriate as lamps because of stink and intense fumes while it was burning. There are various ways that indigenous people used crude oil. For the purpose of remedial treatment as poison detoxification, anti-convulsion and dermal inflammation, people swallowed crude oil directly. In traditional medicine, BLCO is used along with olive oil. They applied it on their burnt skin, rotten foot and leg ulcers. Furthermore, it is used for wizardry attacks and poison cure. People utilized it to cure symptoms which are related to ingestion, such as gastrointestinal disorders and fertility. As a way of complementing protein, most of people in the communities ate marine animals from coastal areas, which is a form of consuming crude oil indirectly. Features Low sulfur The value of fuels and oils which are generated from the crude oil falls off due to its sulfur compounds. “They cause corrosion of equipment during treatment, reduce activity of antidetonation additives and antioxidizing stability of gasoline, raise the
Bonny Light oil
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The geology of Brunei is primarily made up of Cenozoic rocks overlying deeper rock units on the island of Borneo. Rocks from the Oligocene through the Holocene are up to 15 kilometers thick. The oldest rocks are part of the Meligan Formation and Temburong Formation in the east and are the deformed remnants of floodplain sediments. An unconformity separates the older rocks from younger Middle Miocene and Pliocene rocks. Among Neogene sediments, geologists distinguish the Setap, Belait, Miri, Seria and Liang Formations. The Setap Formation is marine shale, while the Belait Formation includes thick sandstones and some reef limestone. Both the Miri and Seria Formations include sandstones and shales and the Liang Formation preserves brackish water sediments and cobbles, together with gastropod and crustacean fossils. Faults that developed in these thick sedimentary rocks help to trap oil and gas. Natural resource geology The onshore Seria oil field was discovered in 1929 and a second onshore field was discovered in the late 20th century. However, most oil and gas in Brunei is found offshore. The 12 kilometer thick Baram Delta Province holds most hydrocarbon reserves, often sourced from land plants which formed centimeter thick layers in the delta sediments. The northward progradation of the paleo-Baram delta controls the temperature and pressure under which hydrocarbons formed. There are two main types of oil in the country: waxy, low-sulfur crude and high-sulfur crude. Natural gas is situated deeper than oil and deposits in the country have low nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide contamination. Southwest Ampa, Fairley and Champion are the principal offshore oil fields. Southwest Ampa is in 40 meters of water, in an anticline structure with growth faults that split the field into three parts with up to 730 reservoir units spanning the Miocene to the Pliocene. The Champion Field is slightly deeper in 45 meters of water, split into the Champion East and Champion West fields, as well as Champion Main. The Main Field hosts the most oil of the three, producing both heavy and light crude—although well pressure has tended to drop rapidly, limiting production of natural gas. References
Geology of Brunei
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Natural-gas processing is a range of industrial processes designed to purify raw natural gas by removing contaminants such as solids, water, carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), mercury and higher molecular mass hydrocarbons (condensate) to produce pipeline quality dry natural gas for pipeline distribution and final use. Some of the substances which contaminate natural gas have economic value and are further processed or sold. Hydrocarbons that are liquid at ambient conditions: temperature and pressure (i.e., pentane and heavier) are called natural-gas condensate (sometimes also called natural gasoline or simply condensate). Raw natural gas comes primarily from three types of wells: crude oil wells, gas wells, and condensate wells. Crude oil and natural gas are often found together in the same reservoir. Natural gas produced in wells with crude oil is generally classified as associated-dissolved gas as the gas had been associated with or dissolved in crude oil. Natural gas production not associated with crude oil is classified as “non-associated.” In 2009, 89 percent of U.S. wellhead production of natural gas was non-associated. Non-associated gas wells producing a dry gas in terms of condensate and water can send the dry gas directly to a pipeline or gas plant without undergoing any separation processIng allowing immediate use. Natural-gas processing begins underground or at the well-head. In a crude oil well, natural gas processing begins as the fluid loses pressure and flows through the reservoir rocks until it reaches the well tubing. In other wells, processing begins at the wellhead which extracts the composition of natural gas according to the type, depth, and location of the underground deposit and the geology of the area. Natural gas when relatively free of hydrogen sulfide is called sweet gas; natural gas that contains elevated hydrogen sulfide levels is called sour gas; natural gas, or any other gas mixture, containing significant quantities of hydrogen sulfide or carbon dioxide or similar acidic gases, is called acid gas. Types of raw-natural-gas wells Crude oil wells: Natural gas that comes from crude oil wells is typically called associated gas. This gas could exist as a separate gas cap above the crude oil in the underground reservoir or could be dissolved in the crude oil, ultimately coming out of solution as the pressure is reduced during production. Condensate produced from oil wells is often referred to as lease condensate. Dry gas wells: These wells typically produce only raw natural gas that contains no condensate with little to no crude oil and are called non-associated gas. Condensate from dry gas is extracted at gas processing plants and is often called plant condensate. Condensate wells: These wells typically produce raw natural gas along with natural gas liquid with little to no crude oil and are called non-associated gas. Such raw natural gas is often referred to as wet gas. Coal seam wells: These wells typically produce raw natural gas from methane deposits in the pores of coal seams, often existing underground in a more concentrated state of adsorption onto the surface of the
Natural-gas processing
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The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) is an Indian central public sector undertaking under the ownership of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. The company is headquartered in Delhi. ONGC was founded on 14 August 1956 by the Government of India. It is the largest government-owned-oil and gas explorer and producer in the country and produces around 70 percent of India's domestic production of crude oil and around 84 percent of natural gas. ONGC is vertically integrated across the entire oil and gas industry. In November 2010, the Government of India conferred the Maharatna status to ONGC. In a survey by the Government of India for fiscal year 2019–20, it was ranked as the largest profit making Central Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) in India. It is ranked 5th among the Top 250 Global Energy Companies by Platts. ONGC is involved in exploring for and exploiting hydrocarbons in 26 sedimentary basins of India, owns and operates over 11,000 kilometers of pipelines in the country and operates a total of 210 drilling and workover rigs. Its international subsidiary ONGC Videsh currently has projects in 15 countries. ONGC has discovered 7 out of the 8 producing Indian Basins, adding over 7.15 billion tonnes of In-place Oil & Gas volume of hydrocarbons in Indian basins. Against a global decline of production from matured fields, ONGC has maintained production from its brownfields like Mumbai High, with the help of aggressive investments in various IOR (Improved Oil Recovery) and EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) schemes. ONGC has many matured fields with a current recovery factor of 25–33%. Its Reserve Replacement Ratio for between 2005 and 2013, has been more than one. During FY 2012–13, ONGC had to share the highest ever under-recovery of 89765.78 billion (an increase of 17889.89 million over the previous financial year) towards the under-recoveries of Oil Marketing Companies (IOC, BPCL and HPCL). On 1 November 2017, the Union Cabinet approved ONGC for acquiring majority 51.11% stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL). On 30 January 2018, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation acquired the entire 51.11% stake of HPCL. History Foundation to 1956 Before the independence of India in 1947, the Assam Oil Company in the north-eastern and Attock Oil Company in the north-western part of the undivided India were the only oil-producing companies, with minimal exploration input. The major part of Indian sedimentary basins was deemed to be unfit for the development of oil and gas resources. After independence, the Central Government of India realized the importance of oil and gas for rapid industrial development and its strategic role in defence. Consequently, while framing the Industrial Policy Statement of 1948, the development of the petroleum industry in the country was considered to be of utmost necessity. Until 1955, private oil companies mainly carried out exploration of hydrocarbon resources of India. In Assam, the Assam Oil Company was producing oil at Digboi (discovered in 1889) and Oil India Ltd. (a 50% joint venture between Government of India and Burmah
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
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Merox is an acronym for mercaptan oxidation. It is a proprietary catalytic chemical process developed by UOP used in oil refineries and natural gas processing plants to remove mercaptans from LPG, propane, butanes, light naphthas, kerosene, and jet fuel by converting them to liquid hydrocarbon disulfides. The Merox process requires an alkaline environment which, in some process versions, is provided by an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH), a strong base, commonly referred to as caustic. In other versions of the process, the alkalinity is provided by ammonia, which is a weak base. The catalyst in some versions of the process is a water-soluble liquid. In other versions, the catalyst is impregnated into charcoal granules. Processes within oil refineries or natural gas processing plants that remove mercaptans and/or hydrogen sulfide (H2S) are commonly referred to as sweetening processes because they result in products which no longer have the sour, foul odors of mercaptans and hydrogen sulfide. The liquid hydrocarbon disulfides may remain in the sweetened products. These may be used as part of the refinery or natural gas processing plant fuel, or they may be processed further. When dealing with kerosene, the Merox process is usually more economical than using a catalytic hydrodesulfurization process for much the same purpose. It is rarely (if ever) required to reduce the sulphur content of a straight-run kerosene to meet the 3000 ppm sulphur specification of jet fuel, because very few crude oils have a kerosene cut with a higher content of sulphur than this limit. Types of Merox process units UOP has developed many versions of the Merox process for various applications: Conventional Merox for extraction of mercaptans from LPG, propane, butanes or light naphthas. Conventional Merox for sweetening jet fuels and kerosenes. Merox for extraction of mercaptans from refinery and natural gases. Minalk Merox for sweetening of naphthas. This process continuously injects just a few ppm of caustic into the feed naphtha. Caustic-free Merox for sweetening jet fuels and kerosenes. This process injects small amounts of ammonia and water (rather than caustic) into the feed naphtha to provide the required alkalinity. Caustic-free Merox for sweetening of naphthas. This process also injects small amounts of ammonia and water (rather than caustic) into the feed naphtha to provide the required alkalinity. In all of the above Merox versions, the overall oxidation reaction that takes place in converting mercaptans to disulfides is: 4 RSH + O2 → 2RSSR + 2H2O The most common mercaptans removed are: Methanethiol - CH3SH [m-mercaptan] Ethanethiol - C2H5SH [e- mercaptan] 1-Propanethiol - C3H7SH [n-P mercaptan] 2-Propanethiol - CH3CH(SH)CH3 [2C3 mercaptan] Butanethiol - C4H9SH [n-butyl mercaptan] tert-Butyl mercaptan - C(CH3)3SH [t-butyl mercaptan] Pentanethiol - C5H11SH [pentyl mercaptan] In some of the above Merox process versions, the catalyst is a liquid. In others, the catalyst is in the form of impregnated charcoal granules. Process flow diagrams and descriptions of the two conventional versions of the Merox process are presented in the following sections. Conventional Merox for extracting mercaptans from LPG The conventional
Merox
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Refining of crude oils essentially consists of primary separation processes and secondary conversion processes. The petroleum refining process is the separation of the different hydrocarbons present in crude oil into useful fractions and the conversion of some of the hydrocarbons into products having higher quality performance. Atmospheric and vacuum distillation of crude oils are the main primary separation processes producing various straight run products, e.g., gasoline to lube oils/vacuum gas oils. Distillation of crude oil is typically performed first under atmospheric pressure and then under a vacuum. Low boiling fractions usually vaporize below 400°C at atmospheric pressure without cracking the hydrocarbon compounds. Therefore, all the low boiling fractions of crude oil are separated by atmospheric distillation. A crude distillation unit (CDU) consists of the pre-flash distillation column. The petroleum products obtained from the distillation process are light, medium, and heavy naphtha, kerosene, diesel, and oil residue. Atmospheric crude distillation unit Crude oil must first be desalted, by heating to a temperature of 100-150 °C and mixing with 4-10% fresh water to dilute the salt. Crude oil exits from the desalter at a temperature of 250 °C–260 °C and is further heated by a tube-still heater to a temperature of 350 °C–360 °C. The hot crude oil is then passed into a distillation column that allows the separation of the crude oil into different fractions depending on the difference in volatility. The pressure at the top is maintained at 1.2–1.5 atm so that the distillation can be carried out at close to atmospheric pressure, and therefore it is known as the atmospheric distillation column. The vapors from the top of the column are a mixture of hydrocarbon gases and naphtha, at a temperature of 120 °C–130 °C. The vapor stream associated with steam used at the bottom of the column is condensed by the water cooler and the liquid collected in a vessel is known as a reflux drum which is present at the top of the column. Some part of the liquid is returned to the top plate of the column as overhead reflux, and the remaining liquid is sent to a stabilizer column which separates gases from liquid naphtha. A few plates below the top plate, the kerosene is obtained as a product at a temperature of 190 °C–200 °C. Part of this fraction is returned to the column after it is cooled by a heat exchanger. This cooled liquid is known as circulating reflux, and it is important to control the heat load in the column. The remaining crude oil is passed through a side stripper which uses steam to separate kerosene. The kerosene obtained is cooled and collected in a storage tank as raw kerosene, known as straight run kerosene that boils at a range of 140 °C–270 °C. A few plates below the kerosene draw plate, the diesel fraction is obtained at a temperature of 280 °C–300 °C. The diesel fraction is then cooled and stored. The top product from the atmospheric distillation column is a
Atmospheric distillation of crude oil
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Proven oil reserves in Iran, according to its government, rank fourth largest in the world at approximately as of 2013, although it ranks third if Canadian reserves of unconventional oil are excluded. This is roughly 10% of the world's total proven petroleum reserves. At 2020 rates of production, Iran's oil reserves would last 145 years if no new oil was found. According to NIOC, Iran recoverable liquid hydrocarbon reserves at the end of 2006 was 138.4 billion barrels. Apart from these considerable reserves, from the outset of oil industry in Iran in 1908 to the end of 2007, Iran produced some 61 billion barrels of oil. Iran has more than a century of history in exploration and production; the first successful exploration well was Masjid Suleiman-1 on May 26, 1908. Since then, based on the latest oil and gas reports, 145 hydrocarbon fields and 297 oil and gas reservoirs have been discovered in Iran, with many fields having multiple pay zones. A total of 102 fields are oil and the remaining 43 are gas, and there are 205 oil reservoirs and 92 natural gas reservoirs. According to Iran Energy Balance Sheet (2009, in Persian), 78 of these fields are currently active, with 62 onshore and 16 offshore, leaving 67 fields inactive at present. Some 23 hydrocarbon fields lie in border areas and are shared between Iran and adjacent countries, including Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Turkmenistan. Iranian production peaked at in 1974, but it has been unable to produce at that rate since the 1979 Iranian Revolution due to a combination of political unrest, war with Iraq, limited investment, US sanctions, and a high rate of natural decline. Iran's mature oil fields are in need of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques such as gas injection to maintain production, which is declining at an annual rate of approximately 8% onshore and 10% offshore. With current technology it is only possible to extract 20% to 25% of the oil in place from Iran's fractured carbonate reservoirs, 10% less than the world average. It is estimated that 400,000-700,001 bbl/d of crude production is lost annually due to declines in the mature oil fields. Largest oil fields The five biggest Iran's oil fields; Additions to reserves Iran oil reserves at the beginning of 2001 were reported to be about 99 billion barrels; however in 2002 the result of NIOC's study showed huge reserves upgrade adding about 31.7 billion barrels of recoverable reserves to the Iranian oil reserves. The 2002 NIOC reserve revision came from the following sources: Revision of oil-in-place volume which added 14,3 billion barrels of oil to Iran's Oil in place reserves. Revision of the field's recovery factors which increased average recovery factor of the revised oil fields from 29% to 36%. South Pars gas field liquefied petroleum gas reserves (C3 and C4) about 3,2 billion recoverable barrels. New discoveries about 700 million recoverable barrels. In addition to the large reserves, Iran still has huge potential for new significant
Oil reserves in Iran
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Reformulated Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending (RBOB) is a gasoline futures contract traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). It is the benchmark futures contract for wholesale gasoline in the United States. History Edwin Drake was the first to discover RBOB gasoline but discarded it as a byproduct on his quest to refine crude oil into kerosene. Composition RBOB gasoline is a blend of hydrocarbons suitable for use in Spark-ignition engines. It typically contains various additives, including oxygenates like ethanol or methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), to improve octane rating and reduce air pollution. Refining RBOB is refined from crude oil and about half of the crude oil is refined into RBOB gasoline, therefore RBOB tracks the price of WTI crude closely. See also Commodity market Gasoline Fuel taxes in the United States New York Mercantile Exchange References Chemical substances Benchmark crude oils Petroleum in the United States
Reformulated Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending
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An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated lipids that are liquid at room temperature. The general definition of oil includes classes of chemical compounds that may be otherwise unrelated in structure, properties, and uses. Oils may be animal, vegetable, or petrochemical in origin, and may be volatile or non-volatile. They are used for food (e.g., olive oil), fuel (e.g., heating oil), medical purposes (e.g., mineral oil), lubrication (e.g. motor oil), and the manufacture of many types of paints, plastics, and other materials. Specially prepared oils are used in some religious ceremonies and rituals as purifying agents. Etymology First attested in English 1176, the word oil comes from Old French oile, from Latin oleum, which in turn comes from the Greek (elaion), "olive oil, oil" and that from (elaia), "olive tree", "olive fruit". The earliest attested forms of the word are the Mycenaean Greek , e-ra-wo and , e-rai-wo, written in the Linear B syllabic script. Types Organic oils Organic oils are produced in remarkable diversity by plants, animals, and other organisms through natural metabolic processes. Lipid is the scientific term for the fatty acids, steroids and similar chemicals often found in the oils produced by living things, while oil refers to an overall mixture of chemicals. Organic oils may also contain chemicals other than lipids, including proteins, waxes (class of compounds with oil-like properties that are solid at common temperatures) and alkaloids. Lipids can be classified by the way that they are made by an organism, their chemical structure and their limited solubility in water compared to oils. They have a high carbon and hydrogen content and are considerably lacking in oxygen compared to other organic compounds and minerals; they tend to be relatively nonpolar molecules, but may include both polar and nonpolar regions as in the case of phospholipids and steroids. Mineral oils Crude oil, or petroleum, and its refined components, collectively termed petrochemicals, are crucial resources in the modern economy. Crude oil originates from ancient fossilized organic materials, such as zooplankton and algae, which geochemical processes convert into oil. The name "mineral oil" is a misnomer, in that minerals are not the source of the oil—ancient plants and animals are. Mineral oil is organic. However, it is classified as "mineral oil" instead of as "organic oil" because its organic origin is remote (and was unknown at the time of its discovery), and because it is obtained in the vicinity of rocks, underground traps, and sands. Mineral oil also refers to several specific distillates of crude oil. Applications Cooking Several edible vegetable and animal oils, and also fats, are used for various purposes in cooking and food preparation. In particular, many foods are fried in oil much hotter than boiling water. Oils are also used for flavoring and for modifying the texture of foods (e.g. stir fry). Cooking
Oil
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In 2018, Nigeria's primary energy consumption was about 155 Mtoe. Most of the energy comes from traditional biomass and waste, which accounted for 73.5% of total primary consumption in 2018. The rest is from fossil fuels (26.4%) and hydropower. Coal, petroleum reserves, natural gas, peat, hydroelectricity, solar and wind are major energy resources in Nigeria and the country remains a top producer of crude oil and natural gas in Africa. Its production in 2022 averaged 1.2 million barrels of oil per day (bopd), and 300 barrels per day (bpd) of condensate, making it the biggest oil producer on the continent. Nigeria has oil reserves of about 37 billion barrels and gas reserves of about 206 Tcf, ranking 10th and 8th in the world, respectively, and giving it plenty of room to further grow its hydrocarbons industry. However, Nigeria is also a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and is frequently subject to production quotas. According to BMC, "Nigeria is Africa's energy giant. It is the continent's most prolific oil-producing country, which, along with Libya, accounts for two-thirds of Africa's crude oil reserves. It ranks second to Algeria in natural gas. Most of Africa's bitumen and lignite reserves are found in Nigeria. In its mix of conventional energy reserves, Nigeria is simply unmatched by any other country on the African continent. It is not surprising therefore that energy export is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy and the government is targeting 90% electrification rate by 2030. Also, primary energy resources dominate the nation's industrial raw material endowment." There was a need for the country to scale up sustainable investment due to the destabilization of oil prices as a result of geopolitical risks and energy transition. Overview Petroleum The first oil well in Nigeria was drilled in 1958 in Oloibiri which is present day Bayelsa State. This acted as a milestone for the production of oil and gas in Nigeria and the emergence of the country as a top oil & gas producer globally. In 2022, Nigeria was still Africa's biggest oil producer and amongst one of the largest in the world. International Oil Companies (IOCs) like Shell, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, Chevron Corporation, Eni, and Equinor, have invested in Nigeria for decades and remain the biggest producing companies in the country, especially offshore. However, heavy security challenges in the Niger Delta coupled with persistent crude theft on onshore pipeline systems have steadily pushed IOCs out of onshore areas, leaving place for Nigerian independents to take over critical oil & gas assets. Such divestments by IOCs have allowed the rise of several Nigerian Exploration and Production (E&P) companies who are now well-established players in the Niger Delta, including Seplat Energy, Oando (Owned by Adewale Tinubu), Amni International, Conoil, First E&P, ND Western, Neconde Energy, First Hydrocarbons Nigeria and many more. Ogoniland The Ogoni people live historically in the Niger Delta in the southeastern region of Nigeria.Ogoniland oil facilities are operated mainly by the Shell Petroleum Development Corporation in the upstream
Energy in Nigeria
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The Venezuelan economic crisis is the deterioration that began to be noticed in the main macroeconomic indicators from the year 2012, and whose consequences continue, not only economically but also politically and socially. The April 2019 International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Economic Outlook described Venezuela as being in a "wartime economy". For the fifth consecutive year, Bloomberg rated Venezuela first on its misery index in 2019. Origins The origin of this economic collapse, framed in the context of the Great Recession, years after the improvement of the extraction of unconventional hydrocarbons in the U.S., showed a macro-economic phenomenon of great importance for the region. China's slowdown, a steady increase in oil production, and stable demand generated a surplus of crude oil that caused a drop in prices of reference crude oil, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), and Brent Crude, falling in 2014 from $100 a barrel to $50 a barrel, and causing unfavourable changes in the economy of Venezuela (see 2010s oil glut). Owing to high oil reserves, lack of policies on private property and low remittances, by 2012, 90% of Venezuela's revenues came from oil and its derivatives. With the fall in oil prices in early 2015 the country faced a drastic fall in revenues of the US currency along with commodities. In addition, the government had not made policy changes to adapt to the low petroleum price. In early 2016, The Washington Post reported the official price of state-retailed petrol was below US$.01 per gallon, and the black market valued the dollar at 150 times what the official state currency exchange rate did. Business and industry In 2013, Venezuela ranked as the top spot globally with the highest misery index score. A number of foreign firms have left the nation, often due to quarrels with the socialist government, including Smurfit Kappa, Clorox, Kimberly Clark and General Mills; the departures aggravate unemployment and shortages. Domestic airlines are having difficulties because of hyperinflation and parts shortages, and many international airlines have left the country. Airlines from many countries that have left Venezuela including AeroMexico, Air Canada, Avianca (Colombia), Delta, and Lufthansa, making travel to the country difficult. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Government of Venezuela has not paid US$3.8 billion to international airlines in a currency issue involving conversion of local currency to U.S. dollars. Airlines have left for other reasons, including crime against flight crews, stolen baggage, and problems with the quality of jet fuel and maintenance of runways. American Airlines, the last U.S. airline serving Venezuela, left on 15 March 2019, after its pilots refused to fly to Venezuela, citing safety issues. Iranian Mahan Air (blacklisted by the U.S. since 2011) began direct flights to Caracas in April 2019, "signifying a growing relationship between the two nations" according to FOX News. Gross domestic product Estimated to drop by 25% in 2019, the IMF said the contraction in Venezuela's GDP—the largest since the Libyan Civil War began in 2014—was affecting all of Latin America. In 2015
2013–present economic crisis in Venezuela
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Onshore, when used in relation to hydrocarbons, refers to an oil, natural gas or condensate field that is under the land or to activities or operations carried out in relation to such a field. Onshore may also refer to processes that take place on land that are associated with oil, gas or condensate production that has taken place offshore. The offshore production facility delivers oil, gas and condensate by pipelines to the onshore terminal and processing facility. Alternatively oil may be delivered by ocean-going tanker to the onshore terminal. Onshore oil terminals Onshore oil terminals may include large crude oil tanks for the initial storage of oil prior to processing. Such tanks provide a buffer volume where oil is delivered by tanker. The oil tanker delivery rate is considerably greater than the processing capacity of the plant. Crude oil tanks also allow offshore production to continue if the export route becomes unavailable. Onshore oil terminals generally have fired heaters to heat the oil to improve subsequent separation. Separator vessels and coalescers stabilise the crude and remove any sediments, produced water and allow light hydrocarbons to flash-off. Large separation vessels give the oil an appropriate residence time in the vessel to allow effective separation to occur. Onshore separators operate at near atmospheric pressure to release as much vapor as possible. The oil processing plant aims to achieve an appropriate vapor pressure specification for the oil. The associated gas is processed for export or used in the plant as fuel gas. Stabilised oil is routed to storage tanks prior to dispatch for international sales delivery by tanker, or to a local oil refinery for processing. Onshore gas terminals See main article Natural-gas Processing Onshore gas terminals may have facilities for removal of liquids from the incoming gas stream. Liquids may include natural gas liquids (NGL), produced water, and glycol (MEG or TEG). Separation of liquid from gas is done in slug catchers, which either comprise an array of pipes or a large cylindrical vessel. A variety of treatment processes are used to condition the gas to a required specification. Such processes may include glycol dehydration, gas sweetening, hydrocarbon dew-point control, fractionation, natural gas liquids (NGL) recovery, gas compression before gas distribution to users. The hydrocarbon dewpoint changes with the prevailing ambient temperature, the seasonal variation is: See also Petroleum refining processes Oil refinery Oil terminal References Petroleum industry glossary from Saipem Spa Petroleum industry glossary from Anson Ltd Petroleum geology Oilfield terminology Petroleum industry
Onshore (hydrocarbons)
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A coalescer is a device which induces coalescence in a medium. They are primarily used to separate emulsions into their components via various processes, operating in reverse to an emulsifier. Coalescers are of two main types: mechanical and electrostatic. Mechanical coalescers use filters or baffles to make droplets coalesce, while electrostatic coalescers use DC or AC electric fields (or combinations). Mechanical coalescers Mechanical coalescers, which are the more common type of coalescers, operate by physically altering a droplet by mechanical means. They are commonly applied in the global oil and gas industries for the removal of water or hydrocarbon condensate. While coalescers by definition function as a separation tool for liquids, they are also used, and mistakenly referred to, as filters. In the area of compressed air purification, coalescing filters are used to separate liquid water and oil from compressed air using a coalescing effect. Coalescence (physics) shows how coalescing filters operating at lower temperatures and high pressures work better. These filters additionally remove particles. The most commonly used media in this case is borosilicate micro-fiber. In the Oil and Gas, Petrochemical and Oil Refining industries, liquid-gas coalescers are widely used to remove water and hydrocarbon liquids to less than 0.011 mW (plus particulate matter to less than 0.3 μm in size) from natural gas to ensure natural gas quality and protect downstream equipment such as compressors, gas turbines, amine or glycol absorbers, molecular sieves, PSA's, metering stations, mercury guard beds, gas fired heaters or furnaces, heat exchangers or gas-gas purification membranes. In the natural gas industry, gas/liquid coalescers are used for recovery of lube oil downstream of a compressor. All liquids will be removed but lube oil recovery is the primary reason for installing a coalescer on the outlet of a compressor. Liquids from upstream of the compressor, which may include aerosol particles, entrained liquids or large volumes of liquids called "slugs" and which may be water and/or a combination of hydrocarbon liquids should be removed by a filter/coalescing vessel located upstream of the compressor. Efficiencies of gas/liquid coalescers are typically 0.3 μm (0.3 micron) liquid particles, with efficiencies to 99.98%. Liquid-liquid coalescers can also be used to separate hydrocarbons from water phases such as oil removal from produced water. They have been also used in pyrolysis gasoline (benzene) removal from quench water in ethylene plants, although in this application, the constant changing of cartridges can lead to operator exposure to BTX (benzene, toluene and xylene), as well as disposal issues and high operating costs from frequent replacement. Electrostatic coalescers Electrostatic coalescers use electrical fields to induce droplet coalescence in water-in-crude-oil emulsions to increase the droplet size. The squared dependence of droplet diameter in Stokes' law, increase the settling speed and destabilizes the emulsion. The effects on the water droplet arise from the very different dielectric properties of the conductive water droplets dispersed in the insulating oil. Water droplets have a permittivity that is much higher than the surrounding oil. Furthermore, water with dissolved salt is also a very
Coalescer
13354642
Naphthenic acids (NAs) are mixtures of several cyclopentyl and cyclohexyl carboxylic acids with molecular weights of 120 to well over 700 atomic mass units. The main fractions are carboxylic acids with a carbon backbone of 9 to 20 carbons. McKee et al. claim that "naphthenic acids (NAs) are primarily cycloaliphatic carboxylic acids with 10 to 16 carbons", although acids containing up to 50 carbons have been identified in heavy petroleum. Nomenclature Naphthenic acid can refer to derivatives and isomers of naphthalene carboxylic acids. In the petrochemical industry, NA's refer to alkyl carboxylic acids found in petroleum. The term naphthenic acid has roots in the somewhat archaic term "naphthene" (cycloaliphatic but non-aromatic) used to classify hydrocarbons. It was originally used to describe the complex mixture of petroleum-based acids when the analytical methods available in the early 1900s could identify only a few naphthene-type components with accuracy. Today "naphthenic" acid is used in a more generic sense to refer to all of the carboxylic acids present in petroleum, whether cyclic, acyclic, or aromatic compounds, and carboxylic acids containing heteroatoms such as N and S. Although commercial naphthenic acids often contain a majority of cycloaliphatic acids, multiple studies have shown they also contain straight chain and branched aliphatic acids and aromatic acids; some naphthenic acids contain >50% combined aliphatic and aromatic acids. Salts of naphthenic acids, called naphthenates, are widely used as hydrophobic sources of metal ions in diverse applications. Classification Naphthenic acids are represented by a general formula CnH2n-zO2, where n indicates the carbon number and z specifies a homologous series. The z is equal to 0 for saturated, acyclic acids and increases to 2 in monocyclic naphthenic acids, to 4 in bicyclic naphthenic acids, to 6 in tricyclic acids, and to 8 in tetracyclic acids. Crude oils with total acid number (TAN) as little as 0.5 mg KOH/g acid or petroleum fractions greater than about 1.0 mg KOH/g oil usually qualify as a high acid crude or oil. At the 1.0 mg/g TAN level, acidic crude oils begin to be heavily discounted in value and so are referred to as opportunity crudes. Commercial grades of naphthenic acid are most often recovered from kerosene/jet fuel and diesel fractions, where their corrosivity and negative impact on burning qualities require their removal. Naphthenic acids are also a major contaminant in water produced during the extraction of oil from Athabasca oil sands. Sources and occurrence Naphthenic acids are extracted from petroleum distillates by extraction with aqueous base. Acidification of this extract acidic neutralization returns the acids free from hydrocarbons. Naphthenic acid is removed from petroleum fractions not only to minimize corrosion but also to recover commercially useful products. Some crude oils are high in acidic compounds (up to 4%). Naphthenic acid corrosion The composition varies with the crude oil composition and the conditions during refining and oxidation.. Fractions that are rich in naphthenic acids can cause corrosion damage to oil refinery equipment; the phenomenon of naphthenic acid corrosion (NAC). Crude oils with a high content
Naphthenic acid
40839046
In petroleum science, reservoir fluids are the fluids mixture contained within the petroleum reservoir which technically are placed in the reservoir rock. Reservoir fluids normally include liquid hydrocarbon (mainly Crude oil), aqueous solutions with dissolved salt, hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gases such as methane and hydrogen sulfide respectively. Hydrocarbon liquids Hydrocarbon liquids such as Crude oil found in oil reservoirs formed in the Earth's crust from the left-over of once-living creatures. Evidence indicates that millions of years of heat and pressure changed the remains of microscopic plant and animal into oil and natural gas. Aqueous solutions Accumulations of hydrocarbons are invariably associated with aqueous fluids (formation waters), which may occur as extensive aquifers underlying or interdigitated with hydrocarbon bearing layers, but always occur within the hydrocarbon bearing layers as connate water. These fluids are commonly saline, with a wide range of compositions and concentrations, however, there are examples of petroleum reservoirs in the world with fresh water. Gases The gaseous part of the reservoir fluids are both hydrocarbon gases (i.e. natural gas mostly including methane and butane) and non-hydrocarbon gases such as hydrogen sulfide and mercaptan containing components. Depending on the pressure and temperature of the reservoir, the amount of dissolved in the liquid phase and free gases will be different. References See also Equation of state petroleum reservoir Drilling Oilfield Well stimulation Reservoirs Petroleum geology
Reservoir fluids
66163575
Ashoknagar oilfield (MBA basin: Ashoknagar 1 well) is a petroleum extracting site located at Ashoknagar in the North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal. The oil field is located 48 km from the state capital Kolkata. The oil field was discovered in 2018 by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. This is the first oil field in West Bengal and East India. December 20, 2020, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the oil and natural gas reserves at Ashoknagar. History In Ashoknagar gas was first found under 2,300 meters from the surface after came oil. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India were awarded the block in Bengal basin under the Mahanadi-Bengal- Andaman division, way back in 2009. The first phase of exploration got over in 2014. The huge reserves of oil and gas were found in the second phase with commercial exploitability confirmed on August 20, 2018. For 60 years Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has been trying to get oil and gas reserves in West Bengal digging 150 wells in the process. But its first discovery happened in Ashoknagar on 3.5 acres. Location of wells Baigachi, near Hijlia Bridge Daulatpur, near 19 No. Bridge Bhurkunda, near Bhurkunda Bazaar Capacity and production State-owned explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation took advantage of a newly prescribed policy of the centre to position Bengal on the oil and gas map of India following its discovery at the Ashoknagar block, even as the long-term commercial viability of the hydrocarbon asset remains to be ascertained. According to sources, the capacity of the block could be one hundred thousand cubic metres per day of gas and 15-18 cubic metres of oil pr day . “Two exploratory wells have been dug there,” the sources said. Besides Assam, no eastern or northeastern state has an operating oil field. Neither is there an operating natural gas field in the region. Quality of crude oil Around 375 barrels of crude oil, whose quality is said to be even better than India's most prolific oil asset Bombay High, have been extracted from a well on the outskirts Ashoknagar since September 2020, making it the most potent hydrocarbon discovery ever made in the state. The quality of oil extracted from this basin is far superior to the Brent Crude and is at par with West Texas Intermediate which is considered the world's best known benchmark crude oil. Oil from Ashoknagar has API gravity of 40-41, which is considered to be a light variety and sought after because of the lower load it exerts on refineries. A higher API gravity indicates a lighter and lower density crude. Light crude falls under the 35-45 API gravity range. West Texas Intermediate crude, denoted to oil lifted in the North America, has an API gravity of 39.6 degrees. Brent crude, a benchmark for oil produced in the North Sea, has a density of around 835 kg/m3, being equivalent to a specific gravity of 0.835 or an API gravity of 38.06. Future prospects PSU behemoth Oil
Ashoknagar oilfield
646478
The abiogenic petroleum origin hypothesis proposes that most of earth's petroleum and natural gas deposits were formed inorganically, commonly known as abiotic oil. Scientific evidence overwhelmingly supports a biogenic origin for most of the world's petroleum deposits. Mainstream theories about the formation of hydrocarbons on earth point to an origin from the decomposition of long-dead organisms, though the existence of hydrocarbons on extraterrestrial bodies like Saturn's moon Titan indicates that hydrocarbons are sometimes naturally produced by inorganic means. A historical overview of theories of the abiogenic origins of hydrocarbons has been published. Thomas Gold's deep gas hypothesis proposes that some natural gas deposits were formed out of hydrocarbons deep in the Earth's mantle. Earlier studies of mantle-derived rocks from many places have shown that hydrocarbons from the mantle region can be found widely around the globe. However, the content of such hydrocarbons is in low concentration. While there may be large deposits of abiotic hydrocarbons, globally significant amounts of abiotic hydrocarbons are deemed unlikely. Overview hypotheses Some abiogenic hypotheses have proposed that oil and gas did not originate from fossil deposits, but have instead originated from deep carbon deposits, present since the formation of the Earth. The abiogenic hypothesis regained some support in 2009 when researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm reported they believed they had proven that fossils from animals and plants are not necessary for crude oil and natural gas to be generated. History An abiogenic hypothesis was first proposed by Georgius Agricola in the 16th century and various additional abiogenic hypotheses were proposed in the 19th century, most notably by Prussian geographer Alexander von Humboldt (1804), the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (1877) and the French chemist Marcellin Berthelot. Abiogenic hypotheses were revived in the last half of the 20th century by Soviet scientists who had little influence outside the Soviet Union because most of their research was published in Russian. The hypothesis was re-defined and made popular in the West by Thomas Gold, who developed his theories from 1979 to 1998 and published his research in English. Abraham Gottlob Werner and the proponents of neptunism in the 18th century regarded basaltic sills as solidified oils or bitumen. While these notions proved unfounded, the basic idea of an association between petroleum and magmatism persisted. Von Humboldt proposed an inorganic abiogenic hypothesis for petroleum formation after he observed petroleum springs in the Bay of Cumaux (Cumaná) on the northeast coast of Venezuela. He is quoted as saying, "the petroleum is the product of a distillation from great depth and issues from the primitive rocks beneath which the forces of all volcanic action lie". Other early prominent proponents of what would become the generalized abiogenic hypothesis included Dmitri Mendeleev and Berthelot. In 1951, the Soviet geologist Nikolai Alexandrovitch Kudryavtsev proposed the modern abiotic hypothesis of petroleum. On the basis of his analysis of the Athabasca Oil Sands in Alberta, Canada, he concluded that no "source rocks" could form the enormous volume of hydrocarbons, and therefore offered
Abiogenic petroleum origin
67622082
The Lobito–Lusaka Oil Products Pipeline, also Angola–Zambia Oil Pipeline (AZOP), is a proposed pipeline to transport refined petroleum products from Angola's port city of Lobito to the city of Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Various parties in Angola and Zambia have signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) about the subject in the past, one in 2012, and another one on 29 April 2021. Location The pipeline is expected to originate at the planned Lobito Oil Refinery, in the town of Lobito on the Atlantic Ocean along Angola's western coast. The pipeline would then wind its way eastwards and slightly southwards to end in Zambia's capital city of Lusaka. The estimated total distance traveled by this pipeline is approximately , from end to end. Background Zambia is a land-locked country in central-southern Africa. It imports most of its petroleum products, refined in the Middle East, through the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam. Zambia's Indeni Petroleum Refinery in Ndola, was built in 1973 and has capacity of 24,000 bbl/d (3,800 m3/d), insufficient to meet the country's fuel needs, now nearly 50 years later. In addition, due to the age of the hardware and antiquated technology, the refinery is not able to refine pure crude at commercial levels and instead processes spiked crude. Zambian authorities have explored various ways to deliver petroleum products to their population, sustainably, in sufficient quantities, at affordable cost. There is the option of expansion and improving the Indeni Refinery. There is the option of building a refined oil products pipeline from Tanzania to Zambia. The newest option is the construction of the AZOP, as a public private partnership infrastructure project. Way forward As of May 2021, what is being proposed in a cluster of pipes to carry various petroleum products including (a) petrol (b) jet fuel (c) diesel (d) kerosene and (e) liquid petroleum gas (LPG). The Lobito Refinery is expected to have capacity of 200,000 bbl/day, of which 100,000 bbl/day of distillate will be allocated to Zambia, through this pipeline. After feasibility studies and environmental & social impact assessment studies, between 2021 and 2023, a decision will be made, whether to proceed. The quoted price for this project is reported to be as high as US$5 billion. As of July 2022, the feasibility assessments were continuing, with new considerations whether to extend the pipeline to some of Zambia's neighboring countries. See also Tazama Pipeline Tanzania–Zambia Petroleum Products Pipeline References External links Lobito Refinery – Angolan Hydrocarbons Industry Expansion Project Proposed energy infrastructure in Africa Petroleum infrastructure in Angola Petroleum infrastructure in Zambia Oil pipelines in Angola Oil pipelines in Zambia
Lobito–Lusaka Oil Products Pipeline
849508
Peak oil is the theorized point in time when the maximum rate of global oil production will occur, after which oil production will begin an irreversible decline. The primary concern of peak oil is that global transportation heavily relies upon the use of gasoline and diesel fuel. Switching transportation to electric vehicles, biofuels, or more fuel-efficient forms of travel (trains, waterways) may help reduce oil demand. Peak oil is very closely related to the concept of oil depletion; while global petroleum reserves are finite, the limiting factor is not whether the oil exists but whether it can be extracted economically at a given price. Historically, it was theorized that a secular decline in oil production would be caused by eventual depletion of known reserves, though more recently a new competing theory has emerged - that reductions in oil demand may reduce the price of oil relative to the cost of extraction, as might be induced to reduce carbon emissions. Or, demand may be reduced from demand destruction triggered by persistently high oil prices. Numerous predictions of the timing of peak oil have been made over the past century before being falsified by subsequent growth in the rate of petroleum extraction. M. King Hubbert is often credited with introducing the notion in a 1956 paper which presented a formal theory and predicted U.S. extraction to peak between 1965 and 1971. Hubbert's original predictions for world peak oil production proved premature and, , forecasts of the year of peak oil range from 2025 to 2040. These predictions are dependent on future economic trends, technological developments, and efforts by societies and governments to mitigate climate change. Supply Defining oil Oil, or petroleum, is a mixture of hydrocarbon substances. By its very nature, what "oil" is may vary. The geology of a region affects the type of oil underground. The types of hydrocarbons produced from an oilfield may also vary depending on the geology. Crude oil generally comes in various different 'grades,' commonly classified as "light," "medium," 'heavy," and "extra heavy." The exact definitions of these grades vary depending on the region from which the oil came. Grades of oil are also assessed by API gravity. Light oil flows naturally to the surface or can be extracted by simply pumping it out of the ground. Heavy refers to oil that has higher density and lower API gravity. It does not flow as easily, and its consistency can be similar to that of molasses. While some of it can be produced using conventional techniques, recovery rates are better using unconventional methods. Generally, especially with regards to peak oil, the primary concern regards what is called "crude oil" production (which may also be referred to as "crude and condensate" production in US EIA statistics), which is what is actually refined into the common fuels most people know such as gasoline and diesel fuel, in addition to other common fuels. Other oil production statistics may be named "total liquids production," or "petroleum and other liquids" in EIA
Peak oil
59891440
Made up of primary carbon, carbon black is spherical in shape and arranged into aggregates and agglomerates. It differs from other carbon forms (diamond, graphite, coke) in its complex configuration, colloid dimensions and quasi-graphitic structure. Carbon black's purity and composition are practically free of inorganic pollutants and extractable organic substances. A distinction is made between these two terms: Carbon black – a specially produced type of carbon using the process of incomplete combustion with restricted oxygen access. The article addresses this type of carbon. Soot – auxiliary fuel (coal, hydrocarbons, crude oil) combustion product, which is considered to be a hazardous substance with carcinogenic properties. Carbon black can be characterized as a substance with over 97% amorphous carbon content. It is used extensively in many areas of industrial chemistry. It is often used in the plastic and rubber manufacturing industries, where it improves electrical conductivity and electromagnetic or thermo-conductive characteristics of plastic materials and rubbers. By virtue of its pigmentation capabilities, it is also used for the production of special printing inks, paints and varnishes. Thanks to its advanced porous structure, it is also used as a catalyst carrier, and its notable sorption attributes are used for, in example, catching gaseous pollutants at waste incinerator plants. Carbon black predominantly includes a conductive type of carbon, which combines an extremely high specific surface and extensively developed structure – microporosity. At the same time, it consists of primary carbon particles and boasts a high degree of aggregation. Carbon black's grouping facilitates the formation of a conductive structure in plastics, rubbers and other composites. These characteristics predetermine electroconductive carbon black's primary area of application, i.e. electrical conductivity modification of nearly all types of plastic materials by adding a relatively low volume of carbon black. Such modifications can be used for numerous purposes, from establishing antistatic properties to adjusting polymer conductivity. Another valuable property of electroconductive carbon black is its excellent ability to absorb UV radiation on the visible spectrum, i.e. as a UV stabilizer for plastic materials, pigment in printer inks, paints and varnishes, or for coloring plastics, rubbers and sealants. Production Carbon black begins as a byproduct of what is referred to as partial oxidation, a process during which crude oil residues, such as vacuum residues from crude oil distillation or residues from the thermic cracking process, split due to the effects of the mixture of oxygen and water steam under high temperatures around 1,300 °C. Partial oxidation of various raw materials always creates a gaseous mixture containing CO, CO2, H2O, H2, CH4 and H2S and COS formed from sulfurous compounds. Carbon black is formed as an undesired byproduct. The amount of carbon black grows as the injection's molecular weight increases. Methane gasification produces approx. 0.02% mass, crude oil residue gasification approx. 1-3% mass. During the respective process, carbon black is captured into water through the method of scrubbing, thus creating carbon black water. The generated carbon black water with 7–15 g/L of carbon black is further processed at the production facility
Electroconductive carbon black
679991
Synthetic crude is the output from a bitumen/extra heavy oil upgrader facility used in connection with oil sand production. It may also refer to shale oil, an output from an oil shale pyrolysis. The properties of the synthetic crude depend on the processes used in the upgrading. Typically, it is low in sulfur and has an API gravity of around 30. It is also known as "upgraded crude". Synthetic crude is an intermediate product produced when an extra-heavy or unconventional oil source is upgraded into a transportable form. Synthetic crude is then shipped to oil refineries where it is refined into finished products. Synthetic crude may also be mixed, as a diluent, with heavy oil to create synbit. Synbit is more viscous than synthetic crude, but can also be a less expensive alternative for transporting heavy oil to a conventional refinery. Syncrude Canada, Suncor Energy Inc., and Canadian Natural Resources Limited are the three largest worldwide producers of synthetic crude with a cumulative production of approximately . The NewGrade Energy Upgrader became operational in 1988, and was the first upgrader in Canada, now part of the CCRL Refinery Complex. "Synthetic crude" may also refer to crude-like hydrocarbon mixes generated from other processes. Examples are manure-derived synthetic crude oil and greencrude. See also Albian Sands Canadian Centre for Energy Information History of the petroleum industry in Canada (oil sands and heavy oil) Scotford Upgrader Suncor Syncrude References External links Scotford Upgrader (Shell Canada website) Scotford Complex (Shell Canada website) Muskeg River Mine (Shell Canada website) Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol - Times Online Synthetic fuels Bituminous sands Petroleum industry in Canada
Synthetic crude
65466889
Crude oil stabilisation (or stabilization) is a partial distillation process that renders crude oil suitable for storage in atmospheric tanks, or of a quality suitable for sales or pipeline transportation. Stabilization is achieved by subjecting ‘live’ crude to temperature and pressure conditions in a fractionation vessel, which drives off light hydrocarbon components to form a ‘dead’ or stabilized crude oil with a lower vapor pressure. Specification Typically, the live crude from an oil production installation would have a vapor pressure of 120 psia at 100 °F (726 kPa at 37.8 °C) or 125 psig at 60 °F (862 kPa at 15.5 °C). After stabilisation dead crude would have a Reid vapor pressure of 9 – 10 psig at 100 °F (62 – 69 kPa at 37.8 °C). The stabilization process Live crude is heated in a furnace or heat exchanger to an elevated temperature. The crude oil is fed to a stabilizer which is typically a tray or packed tower column that achieves a partial fractionation or distillation of the oil. The heavier components, pentane (C5H12), hexane (C6H14), and higher hydrocarbons (C7+), flow as liquid down through the column where the temperature is increasingly higher. At the bottom of the column, some of the liquid is withdrawn and circulated through a reboiler which adds heat to the tower. Here the lighter fractions are finally driven off as a gas, which rises up through the column. At each tray or stage, the rising gas strips the light ends from heavy ends, and the rising gas becomes richer in the light components and leaner in the heavy ends. Alternatively, if a finer separation is required the column may be provided with an upper section reflux system making it similar to a distillation column. As the reflux liquid flows down through the column it becomes leaner in light components and richer in heavy ends. Overhead gas from the stabilizer passes through a back pressure control valve that maintains the pressure in the stabilizer. The stabilised crude oil, comprising pentane and higher hydrocarbons (C5+), is drawn from the base of the stabilizer and is cooled. This may be by heat exchange with the incoming live crude and by cooling water in a heat exchanger. The dead, stabilized crude flows to tanks for storage or to a pipeline for transport to customers such as an oil refinery. The stabilization tower may typically operate at approximately 50 to 200 psig (345 – 1378 kPa). Where the crude oil contains high levels of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) a sour stabilization is undertaken. This entails operating the stabilizer at the lower end of the pressure range, whereas sweet (low H2S) stabilization would take place at a higher pressure. Gas processing The light hydrocarbons stripped from the crude are usually processed to yield useful products. Gas from the top of the stabilizer column is compressed and fed to a de-methanizer column. This column separates the lightest hydrocarbons, methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6), from the heavier components. Methane and ethane are
Crude oil stabilisation
10503493
Total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) is a term used for any mixture of hydrocarbons that are found in crude oil. There are several hundred of these compounds, but not all occur in any one sample. Crude oil is used to make petroleum products, which can contaminate the environment. Because there are so many different chemicals in crude oil and in other petroleum products, it is not practical to measure each one separately. However, it is useful to measure the total amount of TPH at a site. Chemicals that occur in TPH include hexane, benzene, toluene, xylenes, naphthalene, and fluorene, other constituents of gasoline, jet fuels, mineral oils, and of other petroleum products. Petroleum hydrocarbon ranges are monitored at various levels depending on the state and testing site. TPH is the sum of volatile petroleum hydrocarbons (VPH) and extractable petroleum hydrocarbons (EPH). VPH is also known as petrol (or gasoline) range organics (PRO or GRO) and includes hydrocarbons from C6-C10. Diesel range organics (DRO) includes hydrocarbons from C10-C28. Various methods to analyze the components of TPH are introduced in a Nordic report. The report evaluates critically various new methods replacing the old ones using banned ozone depleting substances. References External links http://www.cheiron-resources.com/glossary.php Glossary of Technical Terms for Oil and Other Hydrocarbon Leak Detection and Site Remediation Analytical chemistry
Total petroleum hydrocarbon