So build or upgrade refineries. Not a big problem with the right incentives.
Better yet, let it fail and go solar/wind.
Paywalled
Heavy Crude?
In the North Sea?
>A Tiger?
> In Africa?
For the older variant of the joke. For those who don’t know, North Sea was famous for its LIGHT crude, some of which looked and behaved like diesel fuel, because that is what it was, simply amazing stuff. Heavy crude is not only costler to process, in worse energy efficiency and way more processing steps, you also need supply of well adjusted catalysts and literally adjusting specific plants to process it, where nothing ever goes to plan! Yes, you need hydrogen in the procesing plant, and lots of it!
So. It is not about “some refinery plant upgrades”, I know one plant where they did new line for the heavy crudes and they were in panic mode. The investment nearly bankrupted them in a time of crisis and the process tuning was not right even after years, pressures were dangerously high and the fire/explosion/plant obliteration risks were so hgh as to consider them as a real probability. I do not envy the people involved.
TL;DR: it is a long term plan.
More money for US Gulf Coast refineries, they have a vast overcapacity of just such refineries and are always looking for folks to charge for refining their crude oil.
4 comments
So build or upgrade refineries. Not a big problem with the right incentives.
Better yet, let it fail and go solar/wind.
Paywalled
Heavy Crude?
In the North Sea?
>A Tiger?
> In Africa?
For the older variant of the joke. For those who don’t know, North Sea was famous for its LIGHT crude, some of which looked and behaved like diesel fuel, because that is what it was, simply amazing stuff. Heavy crude is not only costler to process, in worse energy efficiency and way more processing steps, you also need supply of well adjusted catalysts and literally adjusting specific plants to process it, where nothing ever goes to plan! Yes, you need hydrogen in the procesing plant, and lots of it!
So. It is not about “some refinery plant upgrades”, I know one plant where they did new line for the heavy crudes and they were in panic mode. The investment nearly bankrupted them in a time of crisis and the process tuning was not right even after years, pressures were dangerously high and the fire/explosion/plant obliteration risks were so hgh as to consider them as a real probability. I do not envy the people involved.
TL;DR: it is a long term plan.
More money for US Gulf Coast refineries, they have a vast overcapacity of just such refineries and are always looking for folks to charge for refining their crude oil.