Saudi extra barrels wrong kind of crude!

Cynus · Intermediate Crude Joined: Aug 13, 2004 Posts: 585

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6130083/

“Most refiners couldn’t take more sour if they tried,” said one refiner, who asked not to be named.

“We have a glut of sour crude and a short supply squeeze on low sulphur crude oil and products, so extra Saudi makes no difference whatsoever,” a physical oil trader said.

big_rc · Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:01 am Post subject:

I give credit to NBC news. They have been posting some rather tough articles lately and asking the hard questions. I'm amazed that anyone would admit to this.

Anyway, what do the refineries do with the sulphur they remove from the oil? Does anyone know if it goes on the open market or disposed of as waste? If it's disposed of, I hope it's done in a responsible manner. Sulphur and all of its compounds tend to be pretty nasty/toxic stuff.

Hawkcreek · Expert Joined: Aug 15, 2004 Posts: 956

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"It don't make no sense that common sense don't make no sense no more"
John Prine

PhilBiker · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Jun 30, 2004 Posts: 1326

Looks like they've tapped into Manifa, as many have been expecting. That's not only sour and sulphorous, it's loaded with vanadium from what I've read. Tough as nails to refine.

PhilBiker · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Jun 30, 2004 Posts: 1326

Hey maybe I should change my avatar from Ghawar to Manifa. The good part is it's friggin HUGE.

Permanently_Baffled · Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 1:08 pm Post subject:

How many barrels are in manifa?
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Peak Oil? crap Happens !

PhilBiker · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Jun 30, 2004 Posts: 1326

I don;'t know but on the map it looks pretty big in the maps I've seen. Some sites claim 41 billion between Manifa and Khurais, another untapped field (I don't know about Khurais).

http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/company/cnm41257.htm
http://www.saudi-us-relations.org/newsletter2004/saudi-relations-interest-08-25.html

Of course they don't mention that Manifa is really low grade sour oil, just that it's there and there is lots of it.

Here's a good article that profies Manifa:

http://greatchange.org/ov-fleming,after_oil.html

Keith_McClary · Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 10:01 pm Post subject:

big_rc · Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 8:51 am Post subject:

Keith,

Thanks for the info about sulfur. I'm suprised that elemental sulfur is so harmless while many of it's compounds are pretty nasty. You say that you guys have a big molten block of sulfur sitting around waiting for someone to come buy it. Does the sulfur have to be protected in anyway in order to keep it from oxidizing and turning into sulfur oxides which are not harmless?

Keith_McClary · Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:30 pm Post subject:

gg3 · Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2004 2:29 am Post subject:

Back to main thread here, so the Saudis are saying "We can produce X million BPD," (e.g. 11.5 million) but in fact what's going on is an increasing percentage of that is sour and/or otherwise difficult to use or has lower economic value.

So in effect, what that means is they've basically peaked and they're scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel to make the numbers look good. Or am I mistaken..?

Matrim · Heavy Crude Joined: Aug 26, 2004 Posts: 221

pip · Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2004 11:21 am Post subject:

Some refiners can process sour and some can't. Some refiners (see Valero) have made the investments to run sour in their refineries. This is paying dividends now as sour sells at a $6-8 discount to sweet.

Any refinery can be updated to process sour crude, just requires investment.

Theo · Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2004 12:25 pm Post subject:

gg3 · Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2004 4:29 am Post subject:

Not if the price of gasoline is any indication. Valero has a couple of stations around here and they are usually at the low end of the price spectrum. Very smart of them to invest in the tech to refine sour crude.