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Crude Oil Quality Association Mr. Bill Lywood of Crude Quality Inc. opened the
meeting with an overview and update of the new Canadian stream, Western
Canadian Select (WCS). WCS was
created by a consortium of producers (Encana, Talisman, CNRL, and Petro The CCQTA has a new project underway to examine the applicability of current methodology for testing heavy crudes. Mr. Tim Blackmore of Omnicon Consultants explained this new project. Many of the test methods currently in use were developed for light crude oils or even refined products. While these tests can generally be extended to medium crudes without significant problems, heavy crudes do not lend themselves to an extended application. The CCQTA considered producing revised ASTM methods but, as this can be quite costly and time consuming, they opted for a different approach. A list of ASTM, UOP and IP methods that are commonly used for crude oils will be developed and studied for potential issues in their application to heavy crudes and bitumens. Also, a review of currently published materials that might address these issues will be undertaken. Lastly, it will be decided if any new research or studies are necessary to delineate application issues and remediation. The results of these three steps will be published on the CCQTA website. Funding for this project has not been determined and participants are being sought. If you are interested, please contact Tim Blackmore by phone at 1-780-915-7912 or by e-mail at teblackmore@omnicon.ca. Ashok Anand of Enbridge Pipeline overviewed their system and quality programs. Enbridge controls the quality of crude both in the pipeline and in storage tanks. A crude quality matrix in which each of the approximately fifty crude types are assigned a number based on sweet, sour, acidity, density, etc. has been established. Every effort is made to place like number by like number both in the pipe and during storage. For example, a #1 crude (heavy, high TAN), would never be moved by a #7 crude (condensate). Enbridge also minimizes crude oil degradation through management of line rates, batch sizes, tank segregation and selection, line fills, and interface cuts. Special procedures are in place for high acidic crudes (over 1.0) and cracked products containing olefins. High TAN commodities have dedicated tanks or a required flush batch. Cracked products require both front and back buffers that will contain the interface. Performance rewards or penalties have been proposed for Enbridge’s entire system. The targets, based on historical data, will cover quality, predictability, flexibility and reliability. Bruce Kennedy of Petro Some of the comments were: Enbridge Pipeline and the producers respond well to “acute” problems such as safety and environmental. However, subtle issues that are more of an evaluation question are harder to deal with. Batch to batch consistency is mostly a value issue (although severe inconsistencies can raise operational issues). WCS is a good start toward addressing consistency. Also, secondary properties such as asphalt and coking are rarely available and are not monitored. Acidity distribution is important and difficult to get a handle on. This is not specific to Canadian crudes, of course. In general, distribution through the crude is important for many properties, not only acid. The group is really looking forward to the incentive tolling program. There were questions on WCS properties, such as how much synthetic diluent is being used. In general, shippers / refiners are pleased with the responsiveness of the responsible parties when problems are incurred. They appreciate the monitoring efforts and do utilize the information. | |