Processing of Unconventional Light Crudes

Processing of unconventional light crudes offers many challenges to refiners from their crude trains down through naphtha and heavy oil processing sections of their refineries. Due to the high content of lighter hydrocarbon fractions in Light Tight Oil (LTO), Naphtha processing units are being pushed beyond design capacities while heavy oil processing sections may be underutilized causing operational inefficiencies and problems with heat exchange networks. Many refiners are reluctant to make large investments in their naphtha processing capabilities due to uncertainties in future supply and pricing of LTO. This session will focus on the impacts of increased LTO processing on plant operation and economics, as well as debottlenecking opportunities to allow processing of additional LTO.