Crude Oil Industry Research Articles

Study of Petroleum Heat-exchanger Deposits with ATR-FTIR Spectroscopic Imaging

Fouling in heat exchangers is a major economic problem for the crude oil industry. Despite significant research in this area, the fundamentals of the complex fouling process are not fully understood. There are many analytical techniques that are useful in the characterization of such deposits; however, each has its own limitations and drawbacks. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopic imaging has the advantage of being a nondestructive analytical technique with minimal sample preparation and, most importantly, is able to provide both chemical and spatial information about a sample. This paper introduces novel applications combining macro- and micro-ATR modes in FTIR imaging to characterize real deposits from a heat exchanger of a crude oil refinery. A lab-made aperture was utilized in macro-ATR imaging to correct the distortion of spectral bands that occurs for materials with a high refractive index, such as petroleum deposits. Using different ATR accessories for the macro (Golden Gate with a diamond crystal) and micro (germanium coupled to an infrared microscope) modes, FTIR imaging, with fields of view of 610 × 530 μm2 and 63 × 63 μm2, respectively, yields important information about the spatial distribution of different components in the deposits. Macro-ATR-FTIR imaging revealed clusters of chemically different compounds such as asphaltenes, carbonates, sulfates, sulfoxides, oxalates, and possibly coke. It was also demonstrated that with the enhanced spatial resolution of the micro-ATR approach, a more representative spectrum of the components can be achieved. Different forms of the oxalate functional group, one of which was barely at the detection limit of the macro-ATR approach, were also identified using the micro-ATR method. The sensitivity of the two modes of measurement with different spatial resolutions allows spatial and chemical information to be obtained and analyzed for domains of different sizes in studied samples.

Study of Solvent−Bitumen−Water Rag Layers

A major operational issue in the crude oil industry is the formation of intermediate rag layers, (primarily water-in-oil emulsions) in oil−water separation processes that limit the amount and quality of recoverable oil. In this study, the formation of rag layers is evaluated as a function of solvent−bitumen−water ratios, solvent aromaticity, and temperature, with various imaging techniques. Using these techniques, it is possible to obtain an estimate of the amount of oil, water, and asphalthenes in the rag layer and excess phases. On the basis of these material balances, it was observed that when bitumen is diluted with a more paraffinic (poor) solvent, such as Heptol 80/20 (80% heptane and 20% toluene), the asphaltenes in solution tend to adsorb/segregate at exposed oil−water interfaces, impacting the extent of rag layer formation. Diluting similar systems with a more aromatic solvent (Heptol 50/50) reduces the surface activity of the asphaltenes, and the stability of rag layers, as evidenced by lower asphaltene and oil losses to the rag layer. Furthermore, it was observed that increasing the temperature of the system minimizes rag layer formation and the fraction of oil lost to the rag layer. The better separation at high temperature could be explained by the lower viscosity of the oil, which results in improved oil drainage from the rag layer.

Venezuela's Nascent Oil Industry and the 1932 US Tariff on Crude Oil Imports, 1927–1935

ABSTRACTAfter a brief description of the initial development of Venezuela's crude oil industry, this paper examines the impact the 1932 US tariff on crude oil imports had on the country. The US tariff on crude oil imports stabilised domestic crude oil prices but prevented consumers from benefting from lower prices in refned petroleum products. The large us international integrated crude oil companies gained from higher crude oil prices for their domestic production while supplying their european markets with mostly cheap crude oil from their newly developed Venezuelan oilfelds. The tariff increased the Venezuelan oil industry's vulnerability to international events because it narrowed the competitive edge it had over domestic us crude oil production. consequently, the Gómez dictatorship in Venezuela at the time became more dependent on the oil companies operating in the country since they could reduce production considerably, or even leave the country as quickly as they entered with a negative impact on government revenues.

Minority Rights Issues in Nigeria: A Theoretical Analysis of Historical and Contemporary Conflicts in the Oil-Rich Niger Delta Region

AbstractNigeria's delta region was famous for its role in the trade and supply of palm-oil to the then industrialising world. Thereafter, its high quality crude-oil made it a significant player in the global oil market. However, the region has become (in)famous for the spate of violent conflicts that threaten both local and international economic stability and security. This paper highlights the correlations between these two eras, the parties and fundamental causes of the violent conflicts that beset the area. It argues that the underlying factor for restiveness in both periods is the exclusion of the local communities from participating in the exploitation and benefits of the resources. The paper theorises the causes of conflicts during the two periods based on social justice concepts of distribution and recognition. It suggests that the actualisation of normative elements of distribution and recognition that quelled the first of these conflicts has a fundamental role to play in resolving the multifarious conflicts that currently pervade the Niger Delta region. Consequently, it suggests that initiatives that recognise public participation in the crude-oil industry be extended to resolve the present conflicts.

Analysis and overview of industrial solid waste management in Kuwait

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine the amount of different kinds of solid wastes produced, segregated, collected, stored, transported and disposed off by the different industries/business in Kuwait.Design/methodology/approachAvailable industry information along with the use of monitoring data from a waste management system were used to analyze the generation, type and composition of industrial waste. Industrial activities were classified as follows: crude oil and chemical products industry; food and beverage industry, textiles and leather industry, wood industry, paper and printing industry, non‐metallic mineral products; metal industry and other industries. The wastes generated were classified according to their composition.FindingsKuwait has more than 5,000 industries and as a result more than 47,169 tons of industrial wastes are produced every year in Kuwait. It was observed that paper and cardboard, plastic, wood, and metals were the most common types of waste, mainly generated from packaging (45 percent of the total volume), as well as material used in containers and for wrapping products.Practical implicationsIn the management of these industrial solid wastes, it was observed in most cases they were disposed of by dumping, and very rarely did businesses resort to reuse, recycling or valorization.Originality/valueThe paper systematically assesses the obstacles in the existing industrial solid waste management system in the different industries and businesses in Kuwait. In addition, it examines the legislation set by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in Kuwait. Subsequently, recommendations and improvements are suggested.

Wettability under Imposed Flow as a Function of the Baking Temperatures of a DGEBA Epoxy Resin Used in the Crude Oil Industry

The baking temperature (Tb) of an epoxy resin was optimized in order to decrease the dynamic interfacial tension, identifying the lowest wettability conditions for liquids flowing at a high rate. The dependence of dynamic interfacial tension on Tb was evaluated for the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A. This resin was used to coat a sucking rod at the oil field of Bacia de Sergipe/Alagoas, Brazil in order to reduce blockage occurrences, maintenance stops, and the pumping capacity required. The samples were baked for 24 h between 100 and 180 °C. Their color and absorption spectra showed progressive dependence of Tb, indicating a migration from polymerization, through polymer network degradation, until carbonization. Spectrofluorimetry showed an initial increase in the energy gap between absorption and emission followed by a decrease that was attributed to changes of the chemical environment isotropy. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that the maximum polymerization occurred at 140 °C. Dynamic in...

OPTIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY OF THE CRUDE PALM OIL INDUSTRY IN THAILAND THROUGH ENHANCEMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS

The crude palm oil industry plays an important role in the economic development of Thailand and in enhancing the economic welfare of the population. Despite obvious benefits of this industrial development, it also significantly contributes to environmental degradation, both at the input and the output sides of its activities. On the input side, crude palm oil mills use large quantities of water and energy in the production process. On the output side, manufacturing processes generate large quantities of wastewater, solid waste/by-products and air pollution. Current industrial wastes and recoverable materials are empty fruit bunches, fibers, shells and ash. It is estimated that in 2003, a total of 2.1 million ton of solid wastes/by-products and 2.5 million m3 of wastewater were generated. The concept of the industrial ecosystem points at the potential of industrial waste recycling resembling food chains, food webs and nutrient cycles of nature. Following the notion of industrial ecology crude palm oil mills can develop a number of waste recycling and reuse systems. This paper analyzes the nature of these industrial ecosystems, divided in in-plant ecosystems (clean technology options) and external waste exchange between crude palm oil industries and other economic activities in Thailand.

Prices and production cost in aluminium smelting in the short and the long run

The main objective of this study is to reflect the institutional changes that have characterized the aluminium industry as a result of the introduction of London's Metal Exchange (LME) trading. In doing this, it is shown that product prices are taken exogenously and linked to input prices via risk sharing agreements. This forces producers, in a competitive environment, to minimize costs. The latter is completed with a description of their investment decision–making mechanism, in which investment is determined by cost, and a measure of Tobin's q. As it is noted by Figuerola-Ferretti (2002), the crude oil industry has been subject to similar structural changes. It was highly concentrated up to the 1980s when the OPEC discipline broke down resulting in the introduction of crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in 1983 and the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) in 1988. The main contributions of this study are: the use of a proprietary and complete industry data set that allows one (a) to set up the short run input and output price relationships; (b) to model the optimizing behaviour of the sector via a flexible cost function (translog) allowing scale economies and non–constant factor substitution; and (c) to describe the investment–process that has emerged with the introduction of LME trading.

Factor substitution, and economies of scale and utilisation in Kuwait's crude oil industry : Al-Mutairi, N. and Burney, N. A. Energy Economics, 2002, 24, (4), 337–354

Factor substitution, and economies of scale and utilisation in Kuwait's crude oil industry : Al-Mutairi, N. and Burney, N. A. Energy Economics, 2002, 24, (4), 337–354

The determination of water in crude oil and transformer oil reference materials.

The measurement of the amount of water in oils is of significant economic importance to the industrial community, particularly to the electric power and crude oil industries. The amount of water in transformer oils is critical to their normal function and the amount of water in crude oils affects the cost of the crude oil at the well head, the pipeline, and the refinery. Water in oil Certified Reference Materials (CRM) are essential for the accurate calibration of instruments that are used by these industries. Three NIST Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) have been prepared for this purpose. The water in these oils has been measured by both coulometric and volumetric Karl Fischer methods. The compounds (such as sulfur compounds) that interfere with the Karl Fischer reaction (interfering substances) and inflate the values for water by also reacting with iodine have been measured coulometrically. The measured water content of Reference Material (RM) 8506a Transformer Oil is 12.1+/-1.9 mg kg(-1) (plus an additional 6.2+/-0.9 mg kg(-1) of interfering substances). The measured water content of SRM 2722 Sweet Crude Oil, is 99+/-6 mg kg(-1) (plus an additional 5+/-2 mg kg(-1) of interfering substances). The measured water content of SRM 2721 Sour Crude Oil, is 134+/-18 mg kg(-1) plus an additional 807+/-43 mg kg(-1) of interfering substances. Interlaboratory studies conducted with these oil samples (using SRM 2890, water saturated 1-octanol, as a calibrant) are reported. Some of the possible sources of bias in these measurements were identified, These include: improperly calibrated instruments, inability to measure the calibrant accurately, Karl Fischer reagent selection, and volatilization of the interfering substances in SRM 2721.

Electrocoalesce-separators for the separation of aqueous drops from a flowing dielectric viscous liquid

Abstract For small drops dispersed in another liquid with a small density difference, gravitational separation is not effective and other mechanical methods such as centrifugation are expensive. An attractive way to separate the dispersed phase is by the use of electrical phenomena, whereby the differences in conductivity and dielectric properties between the two phases can be exploited to generate significantly high surface forces, where under favourable conditions they can enhance electrocoalescence. In this paper, the design and operation performance of two novel compact electrocoalescer-separators are described. The application of an external electric field has been shown to significantly enhance the separation of aqueous drops in a flowing viscous oil, with a low concentration of the dispersed phase. The separation efficiency increases with the electric field strength until a limit, above which drop deformation and break-up occur. Using pulsed direct current (dc) electric fields, an optimum electric field and frequency is found for the enhancement of drop–drop and drop–interface coalescence, thus producing a maximum separation efficiency for each of the two separators. The separation efficiency increases with inlet drop size up to a certain diameter. Above this diameter, the drops deform and short-circuit the electrodes easily. Short-circuiting can be minimised by optimising the electric field. Larger throughputs of the aqueous and oil phases are obtained with the electrocoalescer-separators that uses combined electrical and centrifugal effects, compared with the electrocoalescer-separator that is based on electrical and gravitational effects. The novel compact electrocoalescer-separators can be easily installed on-line to pipelines for treating water-in-oil dispersions occurring in the crude oil and petroleum industries.

Factor substitution, and economies of scale and utilisation in Kuwait's crude oil industry

The cost structure of the crude oil industry in Kuwait has been examined, with specific focus on factor substitution, and economies of scale and utilisation. This has been done by estimating translog cost functions, both long-run and short-run, using time-series data covering the period from 1976 to 1996. The results indicate that the implied production structure is non-homothetic, and the pattern of scale effect is labour saving, but capital and material using. The evidence also supports the presence of an induced exogenous technical change, which is non-neutral (labour and capital using, and material saving). The elasticity of substitution between capital and labour is positive, implying that the two inputs are substitute. The results also indicate the existence of diseconomies of scale in the production of crude oil, but no economies or diseconomies of utilisation.

Problems of Access to Courts in Nigeria: Results of a Survey of Legal Practitioners

Access to courts constitutes a key test of the quality of a legal system. However, there is a dearth of empirical studies on access problems in developing countries. This article identifies the main problems of access to courts in Nigeria on the basis of a survey of 154 Nigerian legal practitioners, an analysis of Nigerian court cases and two field trips to Nigeria. It focuses on one specific type of litigation: litigation related to the Nigerian crude oil industry. The survey results suggest that the main constraints of access to courts in Nigeria are financial problems as well as the lack of education and information of potential litigants, which falls in line with the results of other empirical studies in developed countries.

Assessing the impact of the windfall profits tax on the US economy

The paper focuses on the effect that the elimination of the windfall profits tax (WPT) on crude oil would have on the various producing sectors, consuming sectors and household categories in the USA, where the interrelationships between these entities are explicitly considered. Special attention is given to the agricultural sectors of the economy. Thus, in the context of a general equilibrium model, the effect of the elimination of the WPT on the producing sectors in general and the three agricultural sectors plus forestry in particular, on the consuming sectors, on households and on the Government is calculated. Over the period 1984–1990, such a policy initiative would result in higher output by the non-crude-oil producing sectors (by about $1.783 billion), higher consumption of goods and services (by about $1.651 billion), and an increase in welfare (by about $1.625 billion). The Government will realize a decrease in revenue of about $1.362 billion while the domestic crude oil industry will experience an increase in output of approximately $1.217 billion. For the agricultural sectors, output overall will fall. Specifically, for the programme crops sector, output will decline by $39 million, for the livestock sector, output will fall by $14 million, for all other agricultural commodities, output will decline by $36 million and for forestry, output will be reduced by $29 million. Attendant on these reductions in output will be lower prices for the respective commodities.

The effects on agriculture in the United States of an oil import fee

This paper focuses on the effect that a crude oil import fee would have on the various producing sectors, consuming sectors and household categories in the United States where the interrelationships between these entities is explicitly considered. Special attention is given to the agricultural sectors of the economy. Thus, in the context of a general equilibrium model, the effect of a $5.00 per barrel import fee on the producing sectors in general and the three agricultural sectors plus forestry in particular, on the consuming sectors, on households and on the government is calculated. Over the period 1984–90 with such an import fee (relative to the absence of a crude–oil import fee), the model results suggest that there will be a reduction in output by all producing sectors (except the crude-oil industry) by about $13,924 billion, there will be a fall in the consumption of goods and services by about $318 million and there will be a decline in aggregate social welfare (measured as utility) by about $208 ...

Assessing the impact of an oil import fee

We examine the impact of an oil-import fee on the United States economy. For a general equilibrium model, we estimate the effect that a $5.00 per barrel import fee would have on producing sectors, consuming sectors, households, and the government. Over the period 1984–1990 with such an import fee (as compared to the absence of a crude oil import fee), the results suggest that there will be a reduction in output by all producing sectors (except the crude oil industry) by about $8.6 billion, there will be a fall in the consumption of goods and services by about $318 million and there will be a decline in aggregate social welfare (measured as utility) by about $208 million. The government will realize an increase in revenue of about $3.41 billion.

A policy-impact model for the supply of depletable resources with applications to crude oil

In the exploitation of many depletable resources, two separate investment activities can be distinguished that must take place if production is to continue in an orderly fashion: exploration and development. This paper describes a quasi-equilibrium model for these activities, based on competitive behavior within the industry, on slowly rising exploration costs, and on a price-inelastic demand. It is shown that if, with advancing depletion, exploration costs rise markedly and development costs relatively less, a little-recognized user cost arises that can be quantified. This user cost engenders a rental that may exert an even stronger upward pressure on the price of the extracted resource than the better known scarcity rent. The model is useful for examining the evolving characteristics of an extractive industry as the resource declines, such as price, life-reserve index, and investments in exploration and development. It can also be used to predict industry behavior if the price is externally influenced, e.g. by government regulation, by foreign cartel-controlled imports, or through a “back-stop technology” that sets a future ceiling on price. The domestic crude oil industry is used as an example. It is shown that if backstop technologies turn out to be high-priced (e.g. $25 per bbl equivalent), their commercial feasibility may be further off than generally realized. Moreover, their advent may be preceded by a period of enormously burdensome investment needs in the declining crude oil industry, or by increasing dependence on foreign oil.

Principles of Unit Operation

It is believed that in connection with the study of unit operation by thePetroleum Division of the A. I. M. E. a review of the simple principles of unitoperation would be helpful. To that end, the following discussion is submitted.It is not to be considered in any sense as the conclusion of the committee, butrather as material submitted for its consideration and represents at this timeonly the viewpoints of its authors. Growth of the Oil Industry In 70 years the oil industry has grown from a single well on Oil Creek, VenangoCounty, Pennsylvania, producing 25 bbl. per day, to more than 400,000 wellsscattered over five continents with a daily output of 4,000,000 bbl. In thattime petroleum has expanded from its simple use as a medicine in a fewlocalities to a multitude of diverse uses in homes of every country the worldover. During those years the oil fields of the United States have producedtwo-thirds of the world's output and have shipped their excess production intoalmost every country. In those years several hundred thousand good wells in the United Statesdeclined into small ones and depleted shallow deposits gave way to deep zones;so that the United States crude oil industry gradually changed from one of lowcost production to one of higher cost. Throughout its entire life it haslabored under two serious economic disadvantages, namely, constantly recurringperiods of demoralization through overproduction, and competitive developmentmethods that are wasteful. Development of Foreign Competition During the transition from low to higher cost production in the United States, events even more significant were taking place in foreign lands. Jungles weretamed and deserts conquered.