Opportunity Crudes Report

“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” -- Charles R. Swindoll (American Writer and Clergyman, b.1934)
This looks interesting.  At $8500, it better be.  Here is the description …

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OPPORTUNITY CRUDES REPORT II: TECHNOLOGIES & STRATEGIES FOR MEETING EVOLVING MARKET & ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES
Publication date:June 2011
At a time of volatile oil prices and crude supply uncertainty, many refiners around the world are again turning their attention to relatively less expensive, unconventional or opportunity crudes (opcrudes). Opcrudes generally include heavy sour grades, oilsand/bitumen, extra heavy oil, high TAN crudes, and oil shale. Refineries without a capability of handling opcrudes will lose out to the competition in the long term.

Why? There are four major reasons.

Political upheaval in the Middle East and North Africa in early 2011 has sent a wake-up call to refiners that crude diversity is the key to business sustainability. Recently lofty oil prices caused by a threat of economic embargo against Iran confirms this call for securing and diversifying crude supplies.

Weak fuel demand compounded with rising oil prices since 2010 have devastated refining margins of many less sophisticated, crude-constrained refineries in the US and Western Europe resulting in plant sales or closures. On the other hand, coking refineries processing Maya heavy oil consistently outperform cracking refineries handling light sweet Brent crude, based on historical data.

Fossil fuels remain the predominant energy source as developing countries with growing population and expanding economies like Brazil, China, and India continue to drive up global demand despite increasing use of biofuels and higher vehicle fuel efficiency.

The world has significant opcrude deposits with a 5 to 1 reserve ratio of heavy crude oil and natural bitumen to conventional crude oil.

However, securing supply of opcrudes is not the end-game and cannot guarantee healthy margins as discussed in the published report. Fuel market dynamics have shifted and environmental regulations have been tightening since we published the first, authoritative opportunity crudes study in 2006.

We have identified critical drivers behind the success of processing opportunity crudes to 2030. This 1400+ page, comprehensive report is well researched and analyzed, providing details of the technologies and strategies refiners can deploy to improve profitability and sustain business goals when processing opcrudes. The study also includes a global survey of oil companies' perspectives.

Order today to receive a complimentary registration for the 3rd Opportunity Crudes conference in Houston, TX (US), May 6-8, 2012. For further questions, please contact us at mcreports@hydrocarbonpublishing.com or 610-408-0117.

Source: http://www.hydrocarbonpublishing.com/store10/product.php?productid=C01100&srchkey=

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The Modern Mariner

“The Ancient Mariner would not have taken so well if it had been called The Old Sailor.” -- Samuel Butler (English novelist, essayist and critic, 1835-1902)
While relatively inexpensive, marine fuels contain so much sulfur that they cause big problems. A number of vendors produce additives to mitigate these problems. Unfortunately, many of these products don’t work.

Consequently, makers of fuel additives for marine fuels often have to pay for the testing of their product in order to persuade a potential client to buy it. These tests aren’t cheap.

An article called “Makers of fuel additives strive to demonstrate their benefits” in Professional Mariner (http://www.professionalmariner.com/), April 2012, quotes Cerion Energy (http://www.cerionenergy.com/home):
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“We will prove out these tests on our dime to show you they are working,” said Andre Jarreau, Cerion’s director of business development and communications. It can cost up to $50,000 to perform the test, he said.”///////
View the full text of the article at: http://www.cerionenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/4.1.12-Professional-Mariner.pdf

Autoxidation

“The only reason I would take up jogging is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.” -- Erma Bombeck (U.S. humorist, 1927-1996)

Found the following review article on the Web.  It is worth reading, and it is available for free download.
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Applied Petrochemical Research, Volume 1, Numbers 1-4, 3-19 (2012)
Desulfurization of heavy oil
Arno de Klerk, R.
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Rashad Javadli
javadli@ualberta.ca
ConocoPhillips Canada, Fort McMurray, AB, Canada
Abstract
Strategies for heavy oil desulfurization were evaluated by reviewing desulfurization literature and critically assessing the viability of the various methods for heavy oil. The desulfurization methods including variations thereon that are discussed include hydrodesulfurization, extractive desulfurization, oxidative desulfurization, biodesulfurization and desulfurization through alkylation, chlorinolysis, and by using supercritical water. Few of these methods are viable and/or efficient for the desulfurization of heavy oil. This is mainly due to the properties of the heavy oil, such as high sulfur content, high viscosity, high boiling point, and refractory nature of the sulfur compounds. The approach with the best chance of leading to a breakthrough in desulfurization of heavy oil is autoxidation followed by thermal decomposition of the oxidized heavy oil. There is also scope for synergistically employing autoxidation in combination with biodesulfurization and hydrodesulfurization.
Free Full Text Source: http://www.springerlink.com/content/4k1t37w341213253/
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Today’s Tip: add autoxidation to your key word list … the one you keep to make your online research more effective.

Venture Adventure

“Unless a man feels he has a good enough memory, he should never venture to lie.” -- Michel de Montaigne (French Philosopher and Writer. 1533-1592)
Venture capital seeks out and promotes promising startup technology businesses.  Many of the startups fail.  Others succeed big time.

To find the likely winners, venture capital firms sift through data of thousands of potential candidates to determine those they deem the most likely to succeed.  Their research involves tens of thousands of hours of inquiry and analysis.

Take advantage of their research.  Visit their Webs.  Scan their portfolios. 

Whether you are …

A potential investor
A researcher looking for a venture capital partner
An executive thinking of acquiring cutting edge technology
A research director gauging the competition
You would do well to monitor what the venture capitalists are investing in.

A good place to begin is the Chevron Technology Ventures site (http://www.chevron.com/ctv). They have some fascinating companies in their portfolio.

Fuel from Hart Energy

“Is fuel efficiency really what we need most desperately? I say that what we really need is a car that can be shot when it breaks down.” -- Russell Baker (American Journalist and Columnist, b.1925)
Hart Energy’s FUEL March 2012 edition is available.  Here is the text of a recent email alert I found in my inbox …

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U.S. Mid-continent Refining Advantages in 2012 by Greg Hass -- Globally, companies are advancing alternatives to petroleum with aspiring new approaches to technology and strategies. However, significant investment in new solutions must continue for revolutionary fuels to hit the market at comeerical scale, experts say.
Regulating the Carbon Away by Louise Poirier – Governments at the federal, state/provincial and local levels are stepping in to help mandate carbon emissions down to pre-established targets, with several programs set to enter effect this year and next.
Introspection and Projection on U.S. Energy Independence by Greg Haas – Energy industry experts ponder the possibilities and requirements for energy independence.
Q&A with Bio Architecture Lab’s (BAL) CEO Daniel Trunfio– Among the many feedstocks now under development in the biofuels space, seaweed is gaining praise for its promise to deliver renewable fuels and chemicals as a result of work now being done at Bio Architecture Lab (BAL). FUEL interviews BAL’s CEO Daniel Trunfio.
U.S. Energy and Politics in an Election Year by Kristie Sotolongo – Amid ongoing economic struggles, the cost and availability of energy resources will remain among the most contentious issues on the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign trail.
Global Crude Oil & Refining Outlook by Dr. Petr Steiner – FUEL takes a look at current and future availability of crude oil supply, reviews the situation in the refining industry and discusses regional drivers and differences for the projected refined product demand.
AFPM Technical Papers – Grace, ART and CRI offer solutions to refining challenges at the annual conference.
BTL/GTL/CTL Technologies by Jack Peckham – Despite uncertainties, project proposals continue to grow worldwide.
Meeting Fuel Efficiency Standards by Kuntal Vora –  With no global blueprint to follow, countries are reducing emissions and improving fuel economy in vastly different ways.
Promise is Plentiful, Progress is Not by Urszula Szalkowska – Resource-rich Africa must clear substantial hurdles of attracting investment and upgrading refineries before its countries can move forward in adopting cleaner fuels and lower emissions.
Market Challenges by Peter Boag – Canadian perspective on maintaining a competitive and viable petroleum refining sector.///////

As you can see, Hart Energy’s (http://www.hartenergy.com/) forte is in tying together the economics of the market place with currently available technologies.

If you find this interesting, you might also be interested in registering for email alerts.  Registration is free, even if the actual text is not. 

What is free these days?  One thing is … following the Desulfurization Blog (http://www.desulf.blogspot.com/) for tips and tricks on how to make your online research more effective and enjoyable.