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Summary The meeting agenda was distributed to those in attendance. There were 34 attendees of which 10 paid the attendance fee. Legal Review of Anti-Trust - Harry Giles, COQA Facilitator, reminded all attendees to review the Standard Setting Rules prior to each meeting. The Standard Setting Rules can be found on coqa-inc.org under "Information". Crude Quality: What is Involved and Why is Quality Important - Mr. Aaron Dillard of Conoco summarized the presentation he made on crude quality at the Canadian Crude Oil Conference on September 6, 2001. Crude quality is defined as the refining characteristics of a crude oil and it is very important in order to properly predict refinery yields, optimize operations, ensure you get what you pay for, and protect refinery operating equipment and personnel from harm due to contamination. Aaron provided the attendees at the Canadian Crude Oil Conference with an overview of the COQA's mission to protect industry crude quality from production locations to the refinery. He also provided a summary of current COQA initiatives such as:
Aaron also presented a model of how to design a successful Crude Oil Quality Oversight Program, which will effectively monitor the on-going quality of a crude for refinery supply. A successful oversight program must understand the logistical transportation systems of the crude being delivered and have sampling established at the correct locations. The sampling process itself is also critical; a poor sample can invalidate the analytical results of the tests. Just as important as the location and methodology of the sample, is the actual testing procedure. A certified testing laboratory is just as critical as choosing the right tests to perform. Gravity, sulfur and BS&W are common parameters that traditionally set the "value" of a crude. The COQA also encourages distillation, metals and other specific tests to more truly define the crude oil yield characteristics. Managing the vast amount of data generated by such a quality-monitoring program is important to ensure the data is usable to the refiners, pipelines, operators, etc. Conoco's own quality oversight program covers 50 major locations, 40 pipeline sampling points, 60 truck points and 250 different crude oil streams. The benefits of improved crude oil quality can be quite large. A 1997 Wright-Killen industry study indicated improved economics in the $0.10 to $0.25 per barrel range, which translates annually from $550 million to $1.4 billion in improved industry-wide refining benefits. Crude Oil Quality Programs - View
this Document**** API Organization and Near Term Outlook for the Refining Industry - Mr. Ron Chittim of the American Petroleum Institute presented an overview of the API's current refining industry outlook. Please see Attachment 5. API is a national trade association with over 400 members representing all aspects of the oil and natural gas industry. The API has a budget of $43 million. The primary focus of the API is advocacy for the oil and natural gas industry. In the last decade, refining capacity in the US has grown at 0.8% per year. However, the demand for petroleum products has steadily increased at an even greater rate and keeps utilization of that capacity progressively climbing as well, at times even reaching 100%. The refining industry does an excellent job of meeting the many environmental regulations currently in place, at great cost to the industry. The heavy environmental program, with future refinery and fuels regulations in the offing, is a major contributor to the capacity crunch. Low rates of return are also a major factor in the lack of refinery capacity expansion or new construction. API Operations - View
this Document**** Panel Discussion on Crude Quality and Refining - Mr. Aaron Dillard of Conoco led a panel discussion consisting of Dennis Sutton (Marathon Ashland), Larry Kremer (Baker Petrolite), Mike West (NCRA) and Jeff Klingler (Equilon Martinez). Each panelist was asked to share a current or ongoing issue. Discussion ensued as to how COQA members could either help with the issue or learn from the situation. Dennis shared information about incidents of high Organic Chlorides, Attachment 6. Corrosion was becoming a problem in the MAPLLC refining operation in Texas City. High Organic Chlorides, using mass spectroscopy to determine the extent, were traced back to a small trucking operation. MAPLLC was able to pinpoint exactly the responsible parties and worked with them to eliminate the Organic Chlorides. However, a situation like this is never finished, as, without diligent overseeing, the OC‘s could creep back in the stream. MAPLLC instituted random testing in the general area of the original problem and, so far, the situation has been under control. Dennis also shared a similar situation where high Organic Chlorides were discovered during testing. In this case, however, the “contamination” was traced back to poor sampling techniques - the use of chlorinated solvents to clean the sampling pots. This, unfortunately, occurs more often than it should and Dennis stressed very strongly that companies need to make their field personnel aware of the problems it can cause. Larry Kremer shared information he had put together for the Additive Subcommittee. Larry expanded on the COQA additive survey by taking the initial chemical compounds included in the survey and attaching them to a source, such as an additive or a naturally occurring substance or a refinery introduced process. He noted that many of the compounds aren't actually additives although they might be perceived as such. It was noted that communicating what substances are in a crude and in what concentrations are critical to proper handling. Mike West had a list of refining issues that were pertinent to all present:
There was also discussion on the latest contract trend to include quality language, such as the attached example from Equiva Trading Company. Gary-Williams has successfully included quality terminology for some time. (Future COQA discussion topic?) The general impression of the panelists and audience is that traders do not devote enough time to quality. (Future COQA discussion topic?) Jeff Klingler wrapped up the panel discussion with a comment on the quality professional’s “Web of Influence”’ encompassing traders, operators, accountants, etc. He noted the COQA’s role in convincing management of quality trends (i.e. contract language), advocacy of the masses (quality issues are important to many companies as evidenced by the strong support the COQA receives), and sharing of issues at meetings and with contacts made. Methanol in Crude Detection - Mr. Ranzy Morgan of Petroleum Analyzer Company (PAC) updated the COQA on the methanol analyzer introduced at the last meeting. The MAC 1000, an on-line methanol in crude analyzer, is now commercially available. Its 15-minute cycle time ensures that methanol does not slip by the sampling stream. The instrument was specifically designed for ease in operation and maintenance and is suitable for offshore and land field operations and in a laboratory. The MAC 1000 was developed through an industry cooperative and has been operating successfully in the field (on a prototype basis) for over nine months. ITS Sunbury Technology Centre, ITSCB/ChevronTexaco Pilot Plant Partnership -Mr. Wayne Kriel of ITS Caleb Brett introduced the latest addition to the ITS Caleb Brett worldwide laboratory network, the Sunbury Technology Centre. The newly formed partnership between ITS Caleb Brett and ChevronTexaco Energy Research & Technology Company (ERTC) for independent Pilot Plant/Catalytic Analysis was also presented. The Sunbury facility and staff were formerly part of BP, which outsourced the entire group to ITS Caleb Brett in 2000. ITS Caleb Brett now has seven global technical centers in addition to about 140 more traditional labs. The technical centers handle a wide range of routine testing, provide expertise and support for the lab network, and offer consultancy on non-routine testing and analysis for all clients. The Sunbury Centre itself offers crude oil assays with customized data treatments, quality auditing, start up support for new instrumentation, specific problem solving, and many other highly technological solutions, including mercury auditing and jet fuel testing. Most of ITS Caleb Brett services, including the Sunbury Centre, can be monitored and communicated on line. Mid-Continent Subcommittee Update - Ms Patti Edens of Equilon Pipeline informed us that effective August 1, the sulfur specification for Basin Pipeline at Midland was lowered to 0.40%. This was necessary to ensure that the 0.42% specification at Cushing could be met. There was cooperation from the connecting carriers. Until NYMEX begins e-trading at Midland with their 0.40% spec, Equilon Pipeline will probably not shut down connecting carriers unless they exceed the older 0.42% specification. An average monthly sulfur of 0.405% at Midland attests to the efforts of Basin and its connecting carriers. COQA Water Measurement Subcommittee and ASTM Crosscheck Updates - Mr. Clifford Mills of Conoco indicated that the water subcommittee discussed tariff wording, solvent disposal issues, sampling mechanisms and the possible economic ramifications of more accurate water readings. The COQA is recommending that tariffs be general when prescribing water measurement and eliminate any reference to a specific test procedure. This would allow the best possible water measurement (Karl Fischer, centrifuge, distillation, something new, etc.) to be agreed upon for any given situation. The ASTM Crosscheck is going well. Particular attention is being paid to the HTSD test. ASTM did include a methodology to follow when participating in the Crosscheck but multiple equipment and software make it difficult to attain consistency. Report on Additives Meeting - After the last COQA meeting, the details of the Additive Survey were distributed to the responders along with a summary and a request for comments. No comments were received. Mr. Larry Kremer of Baker Petrolite expanded on the Survey to reference each of the components to a source, such as additive, refining process, naturally occurring, etc. His chart will be rolled into the Additive Survey Summary to create a reference document for members to use when discussing additives and their possible ramifications. The reference document will be disseminated to all COQA members. We will also use the Survey and its expanded summary to open a dialogue with producers and invite them to participate in our discussions. COQA Web Site and Budget Report - The COQA Facilitator reviewed the financial report for the first nine months of 2001. You may review past minutes, our Retrospective Review and Mission Statement and a complete membership listing (name, company, email, phone) on coqa-inc.org. A forum page will be added to our web site in the near future. Next Meeting - The next meeting will be held in New Orleans on February 7, 2002. Harry Giles, COQA Facilitator |