Awe, love this article. I do/did. I like learning from the best. Thank you, so much. In my youth, running chainsaw, I mixed oil/gas. It brings back fond memories of me, in my youth. And…when I applied myself to learn new things. Other learning is taking place now, since I have time to learn from the bright bulbs. Old lady with a virtual cat❤️🐈⬛
Thank you! This piece took way too long to write due to frequent interruptions. Every time I re-started, I decided that what I had written previously was not very good, so a lot ended up on the cutting room floor, to borrow a filmmaking term.
Actually, Canadian heavy crude (bitumen) is very...well...heavy. Little to no light hydrocarbons. It is actually too viscous to transport easily. Two solutions to this problem:
1) Dilute the "tar" with light hydrocarbon, called condensate (natural gas liquids that "condense" during processing. The result is "dilbit", which is transported mainly by rail. Some of the sand comes along for the ride and precipitates out in the railcars. A mess that needs occasional cleaning.
2) Process the bitumen in what is called a delayed coker unit. This thermally cracks the long hydrocarbon chains into smaller chains (along with petcoke, which has value). The result is a lighter API and lower viscosity crude called "syncrude".
Syncrude can be shipped as-is, or it can mixed with raw Canadian tar sands oil, which is called "synbit".
If you have ever seen or used a modern cigarette lighter (without a wick), the fluid in them is much like the condensate that is used for diluting tar sand crude. Very flammable!
Texas refineries are quite a distance from Canada, but it is possible that some Synbit or Dilbit makes its way down to Texas. It is more likely that the Gulf Coast refineries (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi) will receive domestic crude from the Gulf of Mexico, as well as imports from West Africa and South America.
Thanks so much for these two oil articles! So much useful information! Is there any chance you will write an article addressing the controversy of the origin of oil, ongoing natural production of oil, as well as the actual amount of reserves in the world?
I really don't have an opinion about the origin of oil. However, I do have opinions on future production of oil. I believe that petroleum products will play an important role in the availability of energy and power that will sustain humanity for many years to come. The "International Energy Agency" claims that oil production will decline significantly over the next two decades, but it is clear from their own statements (https://www.iea.org/about) that the IEA is an advocacy group for renewable energy. The next and last installment of this series will address the future of crude and petroleum products in the world.
Although there are several pathways to convert natural gas to bigger-chain hydrocarbons, the processes are not economically favorable. Natural gas is commercially converted to methanol, which has been investigated as a feedstock for olefins, which probably has better economics. A methanol-to-gasoline process was used commercially in New Zealand many years ago, but it is no longer operational. I wrote a piece on nat gas back in May (https://bmanalysis.substack.com/p/natural-gas).
Excellent!
Thank you for a very informative post.
Awe, love this article. I do/did. I like learning from the best. Thank you, so much. In my youth, running chainsaw, I mixed oil/gas. It brings back fond memories of me, in my youth. And…when I applied myself to learn new things. Other learning is taking place now, since I have time to learn from the bright bulbs. Old lady with a virtual cat❤️🐈⬛
Great writting!
Thank you! This piece took way too long to write due to frequent interruptions. Every time I re-started, I decided that what I had written previously was not very good, so a lot ended up on the cutting room floor, to borrow a filmmaking term.
Thank you for the useful, extensive and well presented information, Piquet. This affects all of us, and it is good to understand how it works better.
So interesting. Do you know if the Canadian tar sands having topping units to separate out the light crude ?
Nice to see specific realities to deepen the understanding of what we never know.
Actually, Canadian heavy crude (bitumen) is very...well...heavy. Little to no light hydrocarbons. It is actually too viscous to transport easily. Two solutions to this problem:
1) Dilute the "tar" with light hydrocarbon, called condensate (natural gas liquids that "condense" during processing. The result is "dilbit", which is transported mainly by rail. Some of the sand comes along for the ride and precipitates out in the railcars. A mess that needs occasional cleaning.
2) Process the bitumen in what is called a delayed coker unit. This thermally cracks the long hydrocarbon chains into smaller chains (along with petcoke, which has value). The result is a lighter API and lower viscosity crude called "syncrude".
Syncrude can be shipped as-is, or it can mixed with raw Canadian tar sands oil, which is called "synbit".
Thanks so much for that with the meaning of the term Syncrude and dilbit explained.
Heard it often so vaguely.
Explains as to why the crude was considered terrible by an engineering company with its embedded sand.
Shipping the tar diluted with dibit by railcar can be a hazard and was said to cause the fiery destruction in Quebec with a derailment.
What is shipped to the Texas refineries?
Just curious!
If you have ever seen or used a modern cigarette lighter (without a wick), the fluid in them is much like the condensate that is used for diluting tar sand crude. Very flammable!
Texas refineries are quite a distance from Canada, but it is possible that some Synbit or Dilbit makes its way down to Texas. It is more likely that the Gulf Coast refineries (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi) will receive domestic crude from the Gulf of Mexico, as well as imports from West Africa and South America.
Thanks for this brilliant analysis. I do appreciate very much all your great writings..
Thanks so much for these two oil articles! So much useful information! Is there any chance you will write an article addressing the controversy of the origin of oil, ongoing natural production of oil, as well as the actual amount of reserves in the world?
I really don't have an opinion about the origin of oil. However, I do have opinions on future production of oil. I believe that petroleum products will play an important role in the availability of energy and power that will sustain humanity for many years to come. The "International Energy Agency" claims that oil production will decline significantly over the next two decades, but it is clear from their own statements (https://www.iea.org/about) that the IEA is an advocacy group for renewable energy. The next and last installment of this series will address the future of crude and petroleum products in the world.
Thanks again
Thanks! Feeling like I need more 😊
How much natural gas-to-oil conversion is done per country?
Although there are several pathways to convert natural gas to bigger-chain hydrocarbons, the processes are not economically favorable. Natural gas is commercially converted to methanol, which has been investigated as a feedstock for olefins, which probably has better economics. A methanol-to-gasoline process was used commercially in New Zealand many years ago, but it is no longer operational. I wrote a piece on nat gas back in May (https://bmanalysis.substack.com/p/natural-gas).