Upgrading And Refining Essential Parts Of Orinoco Development

Thi Chang
Refining/Petrochemical Editor

The Jose industrial complex, located along the coast of northeastern Venezuela, is the site for all the planned upgraders. Pipelines from the Orinoco Belt to Jose will be used to transport the Orinoco crude to the upgraders. (Fig. 1; Photo courtesy of Cerro Negro).

Construction is in progress in Jose on the Petrozuata upgrader. The furnaces and separators are in the background; much of the diluent piping and a diluent pump can be seen in the foreground. (Fig. 3; Photo courtesy of Pdvsa). [37,894 bytes]
Essential elements in the development of the Orinoco Belt are the construction of upgraders and refinery modifications to produce consumer petroleum products.

In joint ventures with Petróleos de Venezuela SA (Pdvsa), several North American and European companies are building plants or planning to build plants in Jose, an industrial port 200 km north of the belt (Fig. 1).

The upgraders will convert Orinoco's 8.3-9.3° API heavy crude to 14-32° API syncrude. This material will be transported to North America and elsewhere for further refining.

Although none of these upgraders are complete, Conoco is the furthest along, scheduled to finish in 2000.

Four upgrading projects currently have been approved by the Venezuelan government:

Petrozuata project (Conoco 50.1%, Pdvsa 49.9%)
Cerro Negro project (Mobil Corp. 41.7%, Pdvsa 41.7%, Veba Oel 16.7%)
Sincor project (Total 47%, Pdvsa 38%, Statoil 15%)
Ameriven Hamaca project (ARCO 30%, Pdvsa 30%, Texaco 20%, Phillips 20%; association called Petrolera Ameriven SA).

Other projects are presently being planned and reviewed (see accompanying lead article). Preliminary details about Pdvsa's joint ventures with Exxon and Coastal are covered in this article.

Jose upgraders

The upgraders will use delayed-coking processes to produce syncrude from crude oil. Byproducts are sulfur and petroleum coke.

Variable and fixed operating costs of the crude production and the upgraders are expected to be about $2.50-3.50/bbl. This number does not include tariffs and taxes or pipeline costs, which may be a credit or a debit depending on shared pipelines.

Each project will produce a different grade of syncrude. All the upgraders, except Sincor, will produce a low or medium-gravity syncrude with a high metals and high sulfur content. Sincor will instead produce a high-quality, low-sulfur syncrude for the market.

Fig. 2 [130,439 bytes] shows generic diagrams of the upgrading schemes for different grades of syncrudes. Table 1 [134,961 bytes] summarizes the details of each project's upgrader.

Petrozuata

For Petrozuata, commercial production of 30,000 b/d of Orinoco crude began on Aug. 30, 1998.

Because the Orinoco crude is too heavy for piping, Conoco is diluting it with lighter material for transportation to the upgrader in Jose. Petrozuata's $1 billion upgrader is scheduled to be complete in mid-2000. Before its completion, Conoco will blend the heavy crude with lighter crudes for market by Pdvsa. Fig. 3 shows some of the present construction of the Petrozuata upgrader in Jose.

Conoco began mechanical construction of its Jose upgrader in April 1998. It awarded a $400 million contract to Contrina, a consortium of Parsons Process Group and Brown & Root, both in Houston; Technip, Paris; and Dit-Harris and Proyecta, both in Caracas, to build the processing unit and utilities. Covenco, a consortium of Kock Transporttechnik GmbH, Wadgassen, Germany; Weeks Marine Inc., Cranford, N.J.; and DSD/CGI, Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela, is building the solid handling and marine facilities.

After completion of the upgrader, Conoco will dilute the heavy crude at the production site with naphtha before sending it to Jose. The diluent will be a raw naphtha with a gravity of 47° API and a boiling range of 165-320° F.

The upgrader will convert 9.3° API crude to 19-25° API syncrude. The main components of the upgrader are a desalter, a 172,000 b/d atmospheric distillation unit, a 116,000 b/d vacuum distillation unit, and a 52,000 b/d delayed coker.

Conoco will purchase hydrogen from a third party and purify it onsite. Hydrogen will be used in the 10,000 b/d naphtha hydrotreater. The sulfur recovery process will be licensed by Comprimo.

For the delayed coker, Conoco will use its own licensed delayed coking technology. The coker will convert vacuum residue to green coke, gas oils, naphtha, and wet gas.

At start-up, the upgrader will process about 60,000 b/d of crude. Eventually, the upgrader will run at design capacity, 120,000 b/d, which is expected to yield 103,000 b/d of 20° API syncrude (14,000 b/d of which is gas oil). Byproducts include 3,200 metric tons/day of petroleum coke, 150 metric tons/day of sulfur, and 3,900 b/d of LPG.

With the upgrader operating at design capacity, Conoco plans to send two-thirds of the syncrude to its Lake Charles, La., refinery and one-third to Pdvsa's Cardón refinery. The crude to be supplied to Lake Charles will be heavier (about 20° API) than that supplied to Cardón (about 25° API).

Unique about Petrozuata's agreement is Conoco's commitment to buy all of the syncrude at a formula price if there are no other buyers. This lowered the risk of investment for the bonds used to finance the project (OGJ, Feb. 23, 1998, p. 50).

Cerro Negro

In October 1997, the Venezuelan Congress approved the joint venture among Pdvsa, Mobil, and Veba Oel. The three companies plan to upgrade Cerro Negro crude from 8.5° to 16.5° API.

Like the other Orinoco belt projects, production will increase in a stepwise manner. Cerro Negro's production is expected to begin in November 1999 at a rate of 60,000 b/d. Of the initial production, 50,000 b/d will go to Chalmette, La. The remaining will be sent to Veba Oel's refinery in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

Because crude production from Orinoco will occur up to 2 years before the upgrader is finished, the joint venture must decide how it will handle the initial production. During this interim, Cerro Negro plans to combine the crude with 47° API Nigerian Oso condensate and directly ship this blend to the refineries.

By 2001, production is expected to be 120,000 b/d to coincide with completion of an upgrader in Jose.

Cerro Nego's upgrader will consist of a desalter, a 160,000 b/d atmospheric crude distillation unit, a 45,000 b/d delayed coker, and a 6,000 b/d naphtha hydrotreater. The products will be 105,000 b/d of 16.5° API syncrude, 2,040 metric tons/day of coke, and 110 metric tons/day of sulfur.

The 105,000 b/d of syncrude has two destinations: the Pdvsa/Mobil Chalmette refinery (87,500 b/d) and the Veba Oel/Ruhr Oel Gelsenkirchen refinery (17,500 b/d).

In April 1998, Foster Wheeler Corp. announced that its Sydec delayed coking process would be used for the upgrader.

With the upgrader completed, some 35,000 b/d of 47° API diluent will be reserved to transport the Orinoco crude from the production field to the upgrader. This diluent will be recycled between the production field and the upgrader.

Like Petrozuata, Cerro Negro has decided not to invest in a hydrogen reformer. The project will receive hydrogen from a local provider.

M.W. Kellogg Technology Co., Foster Wheeler, and Inelectra completed the basic engineering for the upgrader in 1997. Venezuelan engineering companies Vepica and Jantesa SA and Japan's JGC Corp. received the $500 million contract to provide detailed engineering, construction, and procurement for the upgrader. Detailed engineering began in July 1998, and construction is expected to be complete in 2001.

Sincor

Of all the Orinoco crude-upgrade projects, Sincor's syncrude is the lightest in gravity. Sincor has decided to upgrade the Orinoco crude to a high-quality, low-sulfur syncrude.

"Our strategy is different," said Daniel Dumas, general manager of the Sincor project, "Petrozuata and Cerro Negro have common shareholders on both sides of the Gulf of Mexico. We don't."

Although the U.S. refineries are the most obvious customers for Sincor's syncrude, it has not eliminated Europe, Asia, and North and South America. The low-sulfur, low-gravity upgraded crude will fit most refineries without the need for construction modifications.

For the upgrader, Sincor began basic engineering in early 1997. Cost estimating began in 1998, and production is expected to begin in November 2000. Initially, it expects to produce 40,000 b/d of 8.5° API crude oil and dilute it with 20,000 b/d of Mesa crude or other diluent for transportation to Jose. The resultant crude to be transported will have a gravity of 15-16° API.

The upgrader is scheduled to be complete in December 2001. Sincor plans to send the crude to a desalter, then to an atmospheric crude unit from which naphtha and distillate will be distilled. Residue from the crude unit will go to a vacuum distillation unit which will produce light and heavy gas oil.

Residue from the vacuum unit will go to a delayed coker. Like Cerro Negro's coker, the Sincor coker will use Foster Wheeler's Sydec delayed coking technology.

In September 1998, Sincor awarded a lump-sum turnkey contract of more than $350 million to Foster Wheeler for a six-drum delayed coker, a gas-recovery unit, and an offsite coke handling/conveyor system. As part of this contract, Foster Wheeler will provide engineering, procurement, material supply, construction, commissioning, and start-up assistance services.

Sincor will use hydrotreating and hydrocracking processes licensed by Institut Fran?ais du P?trole (IFP). The naphtha and distillate hydrotreater will have a capacity 93,000 b/d. The 69,000 b/d mild hydrocracker will use a technology licensed by IFP.

The delayed coker 's capacity is 89,000 b/d. The sulfur recovery units have an 805 metric ton/day capacity and will be licensed by TPA Inc.

The new hydrogen production unit will have a capacity of 160 MMscfd. Sour water stripper and amine units are also part of the project.

Initially after the upgrader is completed, Sincor expects production to be about 160,000 b/d. At this time, the crude will be upgraded to 142,000 b/d of 30-32° API syncrude. Byproducts will include 4,740 metric tons/day of coke and 735 metric tons/day of sulfur.

By 2007, Sincor expects to be processing 274,000 b/d of 17° API crude (204,000 b/d of 8.5° API oil and 70,000 b/d of 47° API recycled diluent) in its upgrader to produce 180,000 b/d of a low-sulfur syncrude of 32° API. In conjunction, Sincor will produce 6,000 metric tons/day coke and 800 metric tons/day of sulfur.

Ameriven Hamaca

By 2006, Petrolera Ameriven plans to produce 215,000 b/d of 9° API oil from the Hamaca region and convert it to 25° API syncrude in Jose.

In the first half of 2000, Petrolera Ameriven expects to begin producing about 36,000 b/d of crude. This initial production will be blended with 30° API lighter oil to produce a crude of about 16° API. In 2002, when the Hamaca upgrader is ready to receive crude, Petrolera Ameriven will blend the crude with a 47° API naphtha diluent to produce a 16° API stream for transport to Jose.

The upgrader will be constructed in two phases. The first phase will give Petrolera Ameriven a capacity of 165,000 b/d, and the second will add 50,000 b/d of capacity to its capacity. The first phase is scheduled to be in operation by 2002, and the second by 2007.

Tecnofluor and Fluor Daniel are providing basic engineering for the project. They are expected to be complete by October 1998. No other contracts have yet been awarded for engineering or construction.

The finished upgrader will have a 215,000 b/d atmospheric distillation unit, a 140,000 b/d vacuum distillation unit, a 63,000 b/d delayed coker, 60,000 b/d naphtha and distillate hydrotreater, a 55,000 b/d gas-oil hydrocracker, a 170 MMscfd hydrogen generation unit, and a sulfur unit.

In the first phase, the upgrader will produce 150,000 b/d of 27.5° API syncrude. The completion of the second phase will change the syncrude production to 200,000 b/d of 25° API syncrude. Byproducts include 4,000 metric tons/day of coke and 610 metric tons/day of sulfur. The diluent (45,000 b/d) will be recycled to the production site.

Petrolera Ameriven will sell its syncrude on the open market.

Hamaca Este and Zuata

Exxon and Coastal independently contribute to two of several projects that are being reviewed by Pdvsa:

Hamaca Este project (Exxon 70% and Pdvsa 30%)
Zuata project (Coastal 50% and Pdvsa 50%).

Exxon is interested in an area east of the Hamaca project. It hopes to be producing about 170,000 b/d of 14° API syncrude by 2008. The project is expected to occur in two stages-the first to produce 80,000 b/d of upgraded crude in 2002. The syncrude could be sent to Exxon's Baytown, Tex., or Baton Rouge, La., refineries.

Coastal and Pdvsa signed a memorandum of understanding in November 1997 for a joint venture to produce crude just west of the Sincor project. If approved, the joint venture will send its syncrude to its Corpus Christi, Tex., refinery. As part of the $1.9 billion agreement, Pdvsa will own 50% of the refinery.

Coastal's project will upgrade about 120,000 b/d of 8.3° API Zuata crude to 14-22° API syncrude for export to Corpus Christi, Tex.

Coastal's Corpus Christi refinery must undertake a $250 million project to build a delayed coker and hydrotreater to accommodate the Orinoco crude. (Platt's, Nov. 17, 1997).

Refinery modifications

Even those refineries that can process heavy, sour Mayan crude will need to make modifications to accommodate the heavy crude from Orinoco. The modifications range from slight metallurgy changes to additional coking capacities. Below are some of the changes planned for Conoco and Mobil refineries.

Conoco

Conoco's Lake Charles refinery and Pdvsa's Cardón refinery will be receiving upgraded Cerro Negro crude.

Currently, both refineries can process Mayan and Venezuelan crude. Pdvsa is supposedly debottlenecking one of its crude distillation units to process syncrude.

Conoco's Lake Charles refinery will require few mechanical changes to accommodate the Orinoco syncrude. It will change metallurgy and revise some piping systems. According to industry sources, although Conoco is replacing its existing coker drums, its coker capacity is not changing.

Changes are expected be complete before the upgrader sends its product to the refinery, about mid-2000.

The syncrude from the upgrader will make up about 25% of the refinery's feed, changing the crude gravity slightly, from 22° API to 21° API.

Mobil

Under a separate agreement from Cerro Negro, Mobil and Pdvsa jointly own the Chalmette refinery.

The two companies' 83.3% share of Cerro Negro production will be sent to the Chalmette refinery.

Mobil's approach, similar to that of Conoco, is to process the Orinoco crude within the capacity of its existing coker.

The Chalmette refinery's existing configuration has two crude units. The first is designed to run traditional South Louisiana crude, such as light Louisiana sweet, heavy Louisiana sweet, and West African crude. The second unit is designed to run heavy sour crude in the range of 17-24° API. Because the second unit already runs heavy crude, the Cerro Negro crude will be directed to this crude unit.

To accommodate Cerro Negro crude, Pdvsa and Mobil are revamping the Chalmette refinery in two phases. The first phase will allow the refinery to receive Cerro Negro crude for 2 years before the upgrader is finished. The second phase will provide the refinery facilities to process upgraded Cerro Negro crude.

Mobil Technology Center, Paulsboro, N.J., completed the process design package for the refining modifications.

The first phase, already complete, cost about $15 million. Modifications consist of changes to the bottoms pumparounds, which included new heat exchangers, some minor tower fractionation modifications, and minor metallurgy changes in the coker.

Beginning November 1999, the refinery will receive 50,000 b/d of a 16.7° API blend of Cerro Negro crude mixed with Nigerian Oso condensate. The refinery will further blend this crude with 30,000 b/d Oso condensate to 20-21° API. The sulfur content of the final blend will be about 2.3 wt %.

The engineering in Phase I was completed by local engineering firms and Wink Engineering. Construction was completed by local constructions firms, mainly Brown & Root.

The second phase of the project to revamp the Chalmette refinery will cost about $79 million. With the receipt of this syncrude, Chalmette will no longer have to blend the Cerro Negro crude with Oso condensate.

The second phase will be completed in a series of shutdowns, the first one to occur in the first quarter of 1999. To minimize the impact to refinery operations and minimize costs, all shutdowns will coincide with the natural turnaround schedules. It is expected to be complete several months before June 2001, when the upgrader is expected to be on-line.

Modifications for the second phase include a crude unit revamp with major modifications in the fractionation section, an increase in capacity for the fluid-catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) feed hydrotreater, and minor changes to the sulfur-amine complex.

The crude unit is expected to run about 93,000 b/sd. The Cerro Negro syncrude, at this time, will have a gravity of 16.5° API.

Detailed engineering and construction contracts for the second phase have not yet been awarded.

Mobil expects very little change in the product slate at this time. The project has required very minor revisions in environmental permitting and no changes in reporting.