evaluating canadian crudes in us gulf coast refineries

Evaluating Canadian Crudesin US Gulf Coast Refineries

Pat Swafford

Spiral Software

Crude Oil Quality Association Meeting

February 11, 2010

© 2010 Spiral Software Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in full or in part is prohibited without written permission.

Introduction Introduction to Spiral Software

Overview of typical USGC operations

Changing the USGC crude slate

Comparison of Canadian crude grades with USGC typical crude mix

Evaluating Canadian crudes from a quality perspective


Introduction to Spiral Spiral provides tools and services that enable our clients to

make the best choices in trading and refining crude oil

Over 60 client companies spanning integrated oil companies, refiners, consultants and trading firms

Global implementations by BP, Chevron and Shell

Application examples:o Enterprise crude oil knowledge management: Intuitive tools

with strong inter‐element links, allowing users to share expertise and consistent data across business areas

o Feedstock screening and ranking: Fast, transparent models for screening crudes and identifying optimal blends—minimizing processing risk and maximizing margin


OVERVIEW OF USGC OPERATIONS


Typical USGC Refinery ConfigurationProcess Capacity (bpd)

Crude 178,000

Vacuum 82,000

Coker 28,000

FCC 59,000

Reformer 36,000

Hydrocracking 17,000

Alkylation 12,000

Isomerization 5,000

Sulfur 400 tpd


Typical USGC Refinery Flowsheet


Typical* USGC Crude Mix

OPEC 55%

Non‐OPEC 45%

API Gravity 29.5

Sulfur (wt %) 1.64

* December 2008 through November 2009 data from EIA website

Country of Origin Percentage

US 14.0

Algeria 4.6

Angola 3.4

Iraq 3.9

Kuwait 2.6

Nigeria 8.4

Saudi Arabia 9.7

Venezuela 13.2

Brazil 2.3

Canada 1.8

Colombia 2.7

Mexico 17.1

Russia 5.2

United Kingdom 1.5

Other 9.4


CHANGING THE USGC CRUDE SLATE


USGC Crude Mix Will ChangeThe proposed Keystone Pipeline expansion will make 500,000 barrels per day of capacity available to move Canadian crude oil to the US Gulf Coast by 2012.


Adding Canadian Crudes to the USGC Crude Slate Refinery configurations are unique and typically geared

toward a certain type of crude slate

Some of the more challenging grades of Canadian crudes cannot be processed in high percentages in a typical refinery

Understanding the possible combinations of crudes and the acceptable amounts of each gives refinery planners and traders information that can be used to make economic decisions


COMPARING CANADIAN AND USGC CRUDES


Comparison – USGC vs Canadian Grades


Synthetic Crude vs Typical USGC mix


Dilbit crude vs Typical USGC mix


Medium sour vs Typical USGC mix


Synthetic Crude Diesel CetaneComparison to world crudes


Synthetic Crude Residue YieldComparison to world crudes


Synthetic crude HVGO UOPKComparison to world crudes


Heavy Sour Crude Residue YieldComparison to world crudes


Heavy Sour Crude LSR YieldComparison to world crudes


More than just LP evaluation Every refiner makes crude purchase decisions on the basis of

refinery LP model economics (and rightly so)

Anytime opportunity crudes or crudes outside the normal operating envelope are considered, a quality evaluation outside of the refinery LP model is warranted

Refinery LP models typically don’t consider all of the quality aspects of a crude oilo Acidity

o Other properties

Refinery LP models solutions identify a single‐point of operation. The refiner should consider the entire feasible operating envelope of a crude oil before making the purchase decision.


EVALUATING CANADIAN CRUDES ON A QUALITY BASIS


Crude Approval CriteriaAll refineries have a criteria for accepting crudes for processing.

•Refinery configuration

•Process constraints


Testing Canadian Crudes in the USGC base slate


Analyzing the Limiting Criteria of Unacceptable Blends


Analyzing the Range of Feasible Blending Options


Crude Quality Analysis is Important Crude oil properties

o Form the basis of crude oil descriptions in decision support fortrading, planning and scheduling

o Have a major impact on the value of crudes

o Differ not only between grades, but may have unexpected synergies with other grades that enable refineries to maximize their margins

Accurate, comprehensive, current, consistent and shared crude property data is a prerequisite for effective business processes


Conclusions

evaluating canadian crudes in us gulf coast refineries

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