Crude Oil Research Articles

Insights into pour point depressants: a brief review of their impact on the behavior of waxy crude oil

Insights into pour point depressants: a brief review of their impact on the behavior of waxy crude oil

Impact of genetic polymorphisms on associations between crude oil exposure and health effects among Coast Guard Deepwater Horizon responders

The U.S. Coast Guard led a clean-up response to the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, the largest marine oil spill in history. Studies from the Deepwater Horizon Coast Guard Cohort (DWH-CG) have shown associations between crude oil exposure and various acute symptoms and longer-term health outcomes. Evidence has suggested genetic polymorphisms in metabolizing genes could modify the toxicity of crude oil and its components, which could impact health effects in responders exposed to crude oil. We applied log-binomial regression to calculate prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) in the relationship between crude oil exposure (categorized to never, low, and high) and four acute symptoms (cough, shortness of breath/wheeze, skin rash/itching, headache) and to calculate risk ratios (RR) and 95 % CIs in the relationship between crude oil exposure and incidence of hypertension and asthma in the DWH-CG cohort. Effect modification by polymorphisms in 6 metabolizing genes [Cytochrome P450 family 2 subfamily E member 1 (CYP2E1), Glutathione S-Transferase Mu 1 (GSTM1), Glutathione S-Transferase Theta 1 (GSTT1), Epoxide Hydrolase 1 (EPHX1), NADPH quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO1), and Myeloperoxidase (MPO)] was evaluated. Results were stratified into wildtype and variant [i.e., those with at least one variant allele] for each gene. There was evidence of effect modification in the relationship between crude oil exposure and asthma by CYP2E1 [wildtype (RRHigh vs never/low, 95 % CI = 1.18, 0.99–1.42); variant (RRHigh vs never/low, 95 % CI = 2.27, 1.26–4.10); pinteraction = 0.04] and headache by NQO1 [wildtype (PRHigh vs never/low, 95 % CI = 2.1, 1.88–2.34); variant (PRHigh vs never/low, 95 % CI = 1.44, 1.07–1.94); pinteraction = 0.04]. Our study indicated the potential effect modification by metabolizing genotype in the relationship between crude oil exposure and headaches or asthma. These findings underscore the importance of considering potential genetic susceptibility among oil spill responders. Genotype variations, which are revealed only via specialized testing and thus not readily apparent, may contribute to differential vulnerability to the health effects associated with oil spill exposures.

Assessing the Emission Reduction Policies on Global Value Chains: The Renewable Energy Policy Framework

To mitigate climate change problems, a low-carbon renewable energy policy is needed. Evaluating the impact of these problems on global value chains is essential to ensure an effective transition to sustainable economic development. This study analyzes the impact of emission reduction policies on Global Value Chains (GVC) using the Global Trade Analysis Project-Energy (GTAP-E) model by addressing three fundamental research questions. First, how does the implementation of B40 renewable energy policy combined with carbon tax affect Indonesia’s energy sector output and carbon emissions? Second, to what extent does this policy influence Indonesia’s participation in GVC, particularly in the crude palm oil (CPO) industry? Third, what are the implications for economic growth and social welfare? Our analysis focuses on the CPO sector, considering Indonesia’s position as the world’s largest producer and its potential for sustainable biofuel production through clean technological processes. The results of this study show that the policy effectively reduces carbon emissions through decreased fossil fuel production while promoting renewable energy adoption. It significantly increases Indonesia’s forward GVC participation in the CPO sector, enhancing value addition and international competitiveness. Furthermore, the policy generates positive impacts on economic growth and social welfare. This study emphasizes the importance of international policy coordination and the crucial role of technological innovation in achieving sustainable economic development for a low-carbon economy and strengthening Indonesia’s position in the global value chain.

Integrity of Surface and Sub-Surface Pipeline for Transmission of Crude Oil By-Products: Recent Developments and Future Perspectives

Pipelines play a crucial role in transporting large volumes of gas and oil over long distances due to their safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. Maintaining the integrity of both surface and subsurface pipelines is vital for reliable operations and preventing costly failures that could result in environmental contamination from oil or gas spills. Pipeline degradation often results from electrochemical processes over time, affecting the surface in contact with the environment. This study reviews a decade of literature on methodologies, contributions, and drawbacks related to surface and subsurface pipeline integrity. It provides an overview of progress in PSE-aided thermal cracking production and introduces frameworks, methods, and algorithms proposed in the past 10 years, discussing their advantages, limitations, and industrial applications. Additionally, the paper identifies research gaps, particularly in the accuracy and validation of current methodologies. The study concludes by proposing future recommendations aimed at enhancing environmental sustainability, stressing the potentially catastrophic consequences of pipeline failures. It serves as a resource for experts in non-destructive testing and those interested in the field.

Hydrocarbon potential, source correlation, and paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Jurassic interval in the Zey Gawra Oilfield, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

A comprehensive geochemical analysis for the Sargelu, Naokelekan, and Najmah formations cutting rock and crude oil samples from Z1, Z3, and Z5 wells of Hawler Block, Kurdistan Region, Iraq have been studied for source rock evaluation. Depending on the total organic carbon (TOC) content from pyrolysis analyses, the Sargelu and Naokelekan formations are regarded as very good source rocks, and fair source rock for the Najmah Formation. The organic matter in the Sargelu Formation is characterized by types II and mixed II and III kerogens. However, the Naokelekan and Najmah formations are characterized by type II kerogen. The Sargelu and Naokelekan formations’ organic matters are at mature stages; hence, in the oil window, whereas Najmah Formation’s organic matter is at immature stage. Pyrolysis study shows that the Sargelu Formation is oil and gas prone, while the Najmah and Naokelekan formations are oil prone. The biomarkers and bulk properties of the selected oils from Gas Chromatography (GC) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC/MS) analysis show that they originated by the same source rocks. The geochemical characteristics indicate a carbonate source in a reducing environment for the studied formations and oils. Based on the oleanane index, tricyclic terpane indices, C28S/C29S ratios, and gammacerane index, the relative age of the oils and cuttings of Sargelu, Naokelekan, and Najmah formations is Middle to Late Jurassic and deposited under moderate saline condition. The biomarkers parameters show evidence that molecules from the cutting rocks of the Sargelu and Naokelekan formations are related to the oils in Z1, Z3, and Z5 wells. However, they are not related to the Najmah Formation.

Calculation of Crude Oil Processes Using Simplified Model Mixture

This paper presents the modeling of the existing crude oil separation process in a system consisting of two rectification columns with side drafts operating at higher pressure. The composition of the crude oil was approximated by a model mixture of hydrocarbons. The installation calculations have been performed for two different model compositions containing 32 and 10 different hydrocarbons. The whole technological process was based on the assumption that the feed stream, containing a model crude oil, was introduced to the first column, and then the other expected products (different petroleum fractions), characterized by their respective boiling points, were collected (side drafts) from the appropriate trays of the distillation columns. The obtained calculation results for both of the model crude oils were compared with the results obtained in the existing petroleum process and discussed from the point of view of their practical applications. The detailed data concerning size, composition, and process parameters for all the streams of the investigated installations, as well as the necessary energy expenditure for each of the columns, have been determined. Moreover, some recommendations are presented for the modeling and optimization of industrial distillation processes of very complex, multi-component systems using simpler model compositions.

Foraminifera and geomicrobiology as indicators of the environmental recovery in a mangrove affected by oil spills in the Guanabara Bay (Brazil)

Foraminifera could be used as indicators to evaluate the impacts of oil spills because the crude oil causes several disturbances on the development and reproduction of the species. However, little is known about the relationship between mangrove species and this pollutant. Foraminiferal assemblages were studied in 22 surface sediment samples collected from a mangrove in Guanabara Bay (Brazil) that was severely impacted by an oil spill six years earlier. The foraminiferal responses to the environmental stress helped to determine the most degraded areas. Elevated concentrations of aromatic compounds and potentially bioavailable heavy metals, with contamination levels up to nine times higher compared to the pre-industrial period in the Guanabara Bay. The dominance of anaerobic bacteria, and high esterase enzyme activity (ESTE) suggest that the bacterial community is metabolizing the hydrocarbons in the sediments. Despite these stressors, density and diversity of living foraminifera are comparable to values observed in less impacted Brazilian mangroves. Species distribution patterns reveal an environmental gradient across the mangrove with numerous species increasing their relative abundance towards the areas topographically lower and with higher levels of pollutants and ESTE. Specifically, Caronia exilis, Tiphotrocha comprimata, Ammobaculites exiguus, Textularia paranaguaensis, Ammotium cassis, Ammobaculites dilatatus, Polyssaccamina hipohalina, Siphotrochammina lobata, Ammonia tepida, Ammotium morenoi, Miliammina fusca, Entzia macrescens, Trochammina squamata and Paratrochammina clossi are inferred as pollution-tolerant taxa. This integrated geochemical, microbiological and ecological approach applied to assess the sediment quality in a complex ecosystem has important implications for the use of living foraminifera in recovery stage assessments and biomonitoring plans.

Experimental Study on Enhanced Oil Recovery of Shallow Super-Heavy Oil in the Late Stage of the Multi-Cycle Huff and Puff Process

The shallow, thin super-heavy oil reservoir demonstrates certain characteristics, such as shallow reservoir depths, low-formation temperature, and high crude oil viscosity at reservoir temperatures. In the current production process, the central area of P601 is undergoing high-frequency huff and puff operations, facing certain problems such as decreasing production, low recovery rates, and rapid depletion of formation pressure. Through physical simulation experiments, the various elements of HDNS-enhanced oil recovery technology were analyzed. Nitrogen plus an oil-soluble viscosity reducer can improve the thermal recovery and development effect of super-heavy oil. With the addition of the viscosity-reducing slug, the recovery rate of steam flooding was 58.61%, which was 23.32% higher than that of pure steam flooding; after adding the 0.8 PV nitrogen slug, the recovery rate increased to 76.48%. With the increased nitrogen injection dosage, the water breakthrough time was extended, the water cut decreased, and the recovery rate increased. Nitrogen also plays a role in profile control and plugging within the reservoir; this function can effectively increase the heating range, increase steam sweep efficiency, and reduce water cut. So, the synergistic effects of steam, nitrogen, and viscosity-reducing agents are good. This technology enhances the development of shallow-layer heavy oil reservoirs, and subsequent development technologies are being compared and studied to ensure the sustainable development of super-heavy oil reservoirs.

Study on the mixed deposition rate and phase transition thermodynamic parameters of crude oil wax crystals and hydrates

Throughout the development of deepwater oil and gas fields, the occurrence of mixed deposition involving wax and hydrate is a prevalent phenomenon. To understand this process, researchers have explored the kinetics and thermodynamic behavior governing the co-deposition of wax and hydrates. It was observed that the Gibbs free energy change of hydrate increases with increasing pressure, while the entropy change experiences a decrease under heightened pressure conditions. The Gibbs free energy change and entropy change of wax crystal precipitation exhibit an increase with rising wax concentration. In a 100 mL sample of simulated crude oil containing 10 vol% moisture and 2.5 wt% wax, the rate of solid phase deposition measures 0.1126 cm3/min when the temperature drops from 61 °C to 2 °C. The results exhibit that the dispersion of wax crystals within the oil phase serves to inhibit aggregation phenomenon during hydrate formation and can be effectively used to inhibit hydrate deposition.

Unveiling the dynamic linkages between energy, forex and financial markets amidst natural and man-made outbreaks

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the dynamic linkages of the energy market with the forex market. The energy market is measured by crude oil WTI, while the forex market is proxied by Brazilian real (RBRL), Mexican peso (RMXN), South African rand (RZAR), Turkish lira (RTRY) and British pound sterling (RGBP) exchange rate. Design/methodology/approach For the study, daily observations of these constituent asset classes extending from December 31, 2019, to August 16, 2022, are taken as the data. Furthermore, it is categorized into two different sub-samples in the form of the COVID-19 outbreak (December 31, 2019 to February 23, 2022) and the Russo−Ukraine invasion (February 24, 2022 to August 16, 2022). For empirical estimation, Diebold and Yilmaz model (2014) and Barunik and Krehlik test (2018) are used to examine the dynamic linkages. Findings The study concludes that the Mexican peso (RMXN) receives and transmits the highest spillover, while crude oil (RCOWTI) receives and transmits the least volatility to the network connection in full sample. In addition, the authors report that the dynamic linkage is not constant in the short, medium and long run. Furthermore, the spillover index in the Russo−Ukraine invasion is higher (29.92%) than full observation (22.03%) and COVID-19 outbreak (21.10%) in the short run. Originality/value This paper ventures to offer insight to investors, traders and policymakers based on normal trading days and crisis periods.

Numerical simulation of temperature distribution and residual stress in TIG welding of stainless-steel single-pass flange butt joint using finite element analysis

Abstract Controlling defects such as deformation in the weld joint and the residual or superfluous stresses due to tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding or arc welding is a major concern for many industries like aeronautical, automobiles, nuclear or atomic power plants, crude oil or fossil fuel industries where pipes are in use and circumferential welding is done. Arc welding is a metal joining process, and TIG welding is applied to many industrial sectors that require high-quality welding. Simulation has been done on single-pass TIG welding on the Flange pipe of SS316 to evaluate transient temperature, residual stresses, and distortion. First, a 3D model is developed and assembled in SolidWorks. Second, in an MSC Patran, preprocessing of the FE model is done. Finally, in MSC Marc, thermal and mechanical simulation is performed. Based on this simulation, the accuracy of welding of the flange–butt joint made of SS316 is validated. In this study, the information regarding simulation of temperature dispensation and residual or superfluous stresses is done on the flange–butt joint, and it found the stresses are compressive at the weld bead area, and along the transverse direction, stresses changed to the tensile. The experimental data show that the steep curve at 0.00 mm represents a maximum temperature near the weld path at approximately 2,352°C, and the slant curve shows the far away points from the weld path. Comparing it with FE analysis, the maximum temperature attained was around 2,539°C. An approximate deviation of 7.365% was observed. The results of the study will provide experimental and simulation analyses for the welding of pipes of stainless steel for the transportation of oil and gases in the petroleum industries.

Preparation of Low-Fishy Microencapsulated DHA-Rich Algal Oil Powder Using Infant Rice Powder

Commercial DHA-rich algal oil has some issues, such as an unpleasant odor and susceptibility to oxidation. The main fishy odor compounds in commercial DHA-rich algal oil powder and DHA-rich algal oil microcapsules are hexanal and (E, E)-2,4-heptadienal. To address this issue, a microencapsulation process was designed for DHA-rich algal oil using infant rice powder (IRP), maltodextrin (MD), and whey protein concentrate (WPC) as wall materials, with sodium starch octenyl succinate (SSOS) and monoacylglycerol (MAC) as emulsifiers. The spray-drying method was used for microencapsulation. The experimental data showed that microcapsules with wall materials in a ratio of IRP/MD/WPC = 1:3:1 and an emulsifier content of 3.5% (SSOS and MAC) had the highest encapsulation efficiency (85.20 ± 6.03%) and the lowest aldehyde content (65.38 ± 3.23%). This microcapsule showed a good appearance and better oxidation stability compared with the crude oil, with a water content and average particle size of 1.69 ± 0.57% and 631.60 ± 23.19 nm, respectively. The results indicated that DHA-rich algal oil microcapsules prepared with infant rice powder had a lower fishy odor and better sensory acceptability compared to commercial DHA-rich algal oil powder.

A comparative assesment of biostimulants in microbiome-based ecorestoration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon polluted soil.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pose severe environmental and public health risks due to their harmful and persistent nature. Therefore, developing sustainable and effective methods for PAH remediation is crucial. This study explores the biostimulation potential of various nutrient supplements in enhancing the metabolic activities of indigenous oleophilic bacteria to PAH degradation and removal. The physicochemical and microbiological characterization of the soil sample obtained from the aged crude oil spill site prior to bioremediation revealed the presence of PAH and other hydrocarbons, reduced nutrient availability as well as an appreciable population of PAH degrading bacteria such as strains of Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Kosakonia and Staphylococcus. The polluted soil treatment was conducted in six microcosms representing each nutrient supplement: casmes-CM, cocodust-CCD and osmocote-OSM slow-release fertilizers, NPK 20:10:10, casmes + cow dung - CM + CD and a control (unamended soil). Each pot contained 4kg of soil spiked with 4% Escravos crude oil to a final concentration of 989mg/kg of PAH, respectively. All treatments enhanced the activity of the indigenous bacteria to promote PAH removal (> 50%) after 35days although CM + CD had the highest biostimulation effect (B. E.) of 56% with 71.77% PAH attenuation followed by NPK treatment with B. E. of 54.9% and 70.4% PAH removal, respectively. The order of degradation of PAHs from lowest to highest is: control > casmes > osmocote > cocodust > NPK > CM + CD. First-order kinetic model revealed soil microcosm amended with CM + CD had a higher k value (0.0342day-1) and lower t½ (18.48day) and this was relatively followed by NPK treated soil. Biostimulation is an effective bioremediation approach to PAH degradation, however, a combined nutrient regimen in the presence of PAH-degrading microbes is more potent and eco-friendly in driving this process.

Distributionally robust CVaR optimization for refinery integrated production–maintenance scheduling under uncertainty

In the petroleum refining industry, efficient production planning and maintenance scheduling are crucial for economic performance and operational efficiency. Moreover, the production processes face significant uncertainties stemming from market fluctuations and equipment failures. However, traditional optimization methods often treat production and maintenance independently and neglect the risk management associated with uncertainties in the production process, leading to unreliable plans and suboptimal execution. To address these issues, this paper proposes an innovative data-driven distributionally robust conditional value-at-risk (DRCVaR) method to tackle the integrated production–maintenance optimization problem under crude oil price uncertainty. By constructing confidence sets with L2 norm constraints based on historical data, our approach directly links the model’s conservatism to the amount of available data, effectively managing risk. In addition, we propose robust linear transformation to simplify the min–max nonlinear problem into a conic constraint problem, enhancing solution efficiency and ensuring better operational stability. Refinery case studies demonstrate that the proposed DRCVaR consistently achieves a practical and acceptable solution, significantly outperforming state-of-the-art approaches.

Visibility graph analysis of crude oil futures markets: Insights from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine conflict

Visibility graph analysis of crude oil futures markets: Insights from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine conflict

Multistep Brent oil price forecasting with a multi-aspect aeta-heuristic optimization and ensemble deep learning model

Accurate crude oil price forecasting is crucial for various economic activities, including energy trading, risk management, and investment planning. Although deep learning models have emerged as powerful tools for crude oil price forecasting, achieving accurate forecasts remains challenging. Deep learning models’ performance is heavily influenced by hyperparameters tuning, and they are expected to perform differently under various circumstances. Furthermore, price volatility is also sensitive to external factors such as world events. To address these limitations, we propose a hybrid approach that integrates metaheuristic optimisation with an ensemble of five widely used neural network architectures for time series forecasting. Unlike existing methods that apply metaheuristics to optimise hyperparameters within the neural network architecture, we exploit the GWO metaheuristic optimiser at four levels: feature selection, data preparation, model training, and forecast blending. The proposed approach has been evaluated for forecasting three-ahead days using real-world Brent crude oil price data, and the obtained results demonstrate that the proposed approach improves the forecasting performance measured using various benchmarks, achieving 0.000127 of MSE.

Identification of compositional heterogeneity and influence of chemical fractions on surface microstructures through bitumen optical microscopy

Bitumen is the residua of fractional distillation of crude oil. It generally consists of complex and a diverse variety of organic molecules and other hetero-atoms. The nature and interactions between these molecules dictate the engineering properties of the bitumen. One of the attributes that is used to classify and examine these diverse constituent molecules is based on their relative polarities. In parallel, significant research has been conducted on bitumen surface microstructure, commonly referred as ‘bee structure’. Typically a bitumen is classified into four polarity based chemical fractions, namely saturates, aromatics, resins and asphaltenes (SARA) using physical separation by precipitation and chromatography. Such separations generally require specialised equipment and expertise. In this study, a fast and repeatable technique of chromatography using disposable and inexpensive parts were developed, named ‘SiSara’. This method was then used to fractionate a large set of bitumens in order to compare the constitution of the bitumens based on these fractions to their microstructural properties. Microscopic observation of surface microstructures indicates similarity among bitumens from the same producer. There was also a good correlation between SARA parameters and surface microstructure for bitumens from the same producer. However, this relationship was unique for each producer and not global suggesting that other factors related to the crude source need to be considered as well.

مصادر تمويل الحقوق المالية لموظفي العقود الوزارية في ظل قانون الموازنات الاتحادية العراقية

Abstract All budget laws, especially the Federal Budget Law in Iraq for the year 2023, addressed the sources of financing the financial rights of employees of ministerial contracts, such as financing the salaries of this important segment of employees, in addition to its main objective of financing sectors and developing various services in Iraq and others, and that the financing process in most countries of the world comes through taxes, government investments and loans, but in Iraq, oil is the main and vital sector through which budgets are financed. It is noted that Iraq has been exposed to many economic crises that led to the collapse of the Iraqi economy, which negatively affected financial financing in general. From this, we mention that the demonstrations and the Corona pandemic caused a clear collapse in crude oil, which, as we previously said, constitutes a major source of financial financing and the percentage of reliance on it reaches (95%) of the Iraqi state’s revenues. The collapse in oil also caused a clear deficit in the 2019 budget, and the government resorted to debt by resorting to internal borrowing in the years (2019 and 2020). The delay and failure to approve the Iraqi federal budget affected the entitlements of employees of ministerial contracts. The issuance of job grades for contractors led to a crisis in financing their salaries, but their financing was transferred to the ministries in which they were appointed. The ministries that do not have self-financing faced some difficulties, especially after the issuance of appointments and the transfer of salaried workers to contracts, and then their referral to the permanent staff.

Dynamic Connectedness Among Alternative and Conventional Energy ETFs Based on the TVP-VAR Approach

This study investigates risk transmission in the US energy instrument market to determine if certain factors, such as crude oil and natural gas, influence this market and whether stock or energy investment portfolios track their behavior. To investigate volatility spillover, the VAR-based connectedness approach is applied. This approach facilitates the measurement of interdependence across a network of variables, providing insights into aggregate, directional, and net interdependence. The use of the time-varying parameter vector autoregression (TVP-VAR) approach, as developed by Antonakakis and Gabauer, avoids the problems associated with selecting rolling window sizes and the resultant loss of observations during estimations. The analysis revealed a distinction between alternative and traditional ETFs, with lower interdependence observed among the volatility of alternative energy ETFs. While most energy ETFs transmit risk within the systems analyzed, some act as risk receivers, though their net receiving/transmitting character fluctuates. The results of this study are significant for investment portfolio managers.

Predicting multi-frequency crude oil price dynamics: Based on MIDAS and STL methods

Accurate prediction of crude oil prices is important for national energy security and socioeconomic development. Research on crude oil price forecasting has primarily focused on the overall price, overlooking the differentiated investment needs of different entities. To solve this problem, we introduce the Seasonal and Trend decomposition using Loess (STL) method into the Mixed Data Sampling (MIDAS) model. This enables us to more accurately analyze the predictive capability of predictors for crude oil prices at different frequencies. Selected predictors include the Dow Jones Index, US Dollar exchange rate, economic policy uncertainty, related crude oil and energy prices, carbon asset prices, and investor attention. Empirical results indicate that these predictors significantly enhance the forecasting accuracy across all components, with the strongest impact in the trend component. Interestingly, a lag effect is observed in the predictors' impact on the seasonal and residual components, but not on the trend component. Moreover, we calculate the duration of each predictor's effectiveness for different components of crude oil prices, distinguishing short-term and long-term effective predictors. This research offers novel insights into the design of crude oil price forecasting models, which is crucial for enhancing investor returns and maintaining stability in the energy market.