The Challenges of Processing and Transporting Heavy Crude

Abstract

Looking forward, many of the world’s oil producers will have to think more carefully about heavy crudes and the challenges they pose for processing, storage, and transportation. To date, most of the world’s ongoing demand for crude has focused on lighter grades, which until relatively recently have been the primary, commercially available resource. However, those lighter, premium resources are in decline, leaving a growing percentage of the world’s oil supply to increasingly heavier grades. And supplies of the heavier grades remain plentiful. Current production accounts for less than 3% of the discovered heavy oil originally in place.