Crude oil
Consider the pros and cons when importing heavy oil for cokers
The recent shift to lighter crudes has starved many US heavy oil units of feed. Maximizing asset use makes importing heavy oil for vacuum distillation and delayed coking attractive.
FCC 101: How to estimate product yields cost-effectively and improve operations
The feed to fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) is the most important process variable. FCCU feed has the greatest impact on operating conditions, yield and product quality. A typical FCCU feed consi..
What are the possible impacts on US refineries processing shale oils?
No singular event has had as significant an impact on the quality of refinery feedstocks as the shale revolution. Not only are shale crudes, such as Eagle Ford and Bakken, generally lighter than other..
Consider new online analyzers to optimize FCC operations
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and near infrared (NIR) process analyzers are highly effective in quantifying physical properties in hydrocarbons, especially where the feedstock, intermediate and final product streams are all interlinked.
HP Editorial Comment: Take a moment and breathe
“Don’t panic” is probably the best advice for the downstream industry regarding oil prices. The upstream fully recognizes the present and short-term conditions for its business.
HP Global: 2015 outlook for oil price and its refining sector implications
What is the oil price outlook for the next 12 months? As of early January, the price of Brent has effectively halved compared to the 2014 summer peak, similar to the price collapse of 2008. However, u..
HP News
Qatar Petroleum and Shell cancel $6.5-B petrochemical project in Qatar Royal Dutch Shell and Qatar Petroleum (QP) have canceled the $6.5-B Al-Karaana petrochemical project in Qatar, which will signifi..
HP Industry Metrics
Mid-January saw the continued decline of monthly average Brent crude oil prices, which fell $17/bbl from November to a monthly average of $62/bbl. The continual price decrease reflects US tight oil pr..
Chemicals group Huntsman sees better business from lower oil prices
"In an environment where oil prices are sustainably low, Huntsman will emphatically be a beneficiary over the long term," the CEO said. "Many of our raw materials are derived from the oil refining process."
Maximize LPG recovery from fuel gas using a dividing wall column
Refiners are challenged to recover LPG from mixed fuel gas streams due to the difficulty of separating the lighter components from bulk gas. To maintain profitability, it is essential to direct all of the crude oil components to the optimum disposition. This practice is becoming more significant due to increasing LPG demand in some countries and the supply of lighter crudes in countries such as the US.
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