FLOW IMPROVER FOR HEAVY AND EXTRA HEAVY CRUDE OILS

(technical and economic considerations)

GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ABBREVIATION

API gravity: measure of the heaviness of liquid petroleum.          

XP: abbreviation for extra heavy crude oil.

Naphtha: a very light liquid hydrocarbon mix used to dilute and improve the flow of XP.

cP: abbreviation for centipoise (a unit for measurement of dynamic viscosity).

DCO: abbreviation for “Diluted Crude Oil” usually a mixture of XP with naphtha or light crude oil.

OOB: Orinoco Oil Belt, best known as “Faja Petrolífera del Orinoco”.

THE OOB EXTRA HEAVY CRUDE OIL DILUTION PROCESS

The XP crude oil in the OOB is highly viscous, can reach viscosities greater than 20.000 cP, but must be diluted in order to lower its viscosity below 900 cP and capable of being transported through pumps and pipes to the refinery as DCO.

WHAT AMOUNT OF NAFTA IS CURRENTLY USED IN THE OOB REGION TO DILUTE THE XP?

On average, companies that operate in the OOB region  mix XP with 33% by volume of naphtha (48 degrees API). This means that for every 100 barrels of DCO that travel from the OOB to the refinery, 67 barrels are of XP and 33 are naphtha.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF DAL-994® ?

Mixing 18% of naphtha, with 0.15 % of DAL-994® and 82% of XP, results in a final mixture of DCO with a viscosity of less than 900 cP, which allows to transport more XP for each unit of naphtha by duplicating the naphtha dilution property.

BENEFITS OF AN INCREASE IN NAPHTHA´S DILUTION PROPERTY?

1.- The amount of XP transported increases by 22% . In previous scenario instead of transporting a total of 100 barrels of DCO with 67% of XP, now 82% of  a 100 barrel flow  will be of XP.

2.- The performance of naphtha is increased 2.2 times, since the current 33 barrels of naphtha in the previous example will allow transporting 150 barrels of XP (33*82/18=150), instead of the initial 67 (150*100/67= 224).

3.- The efficiency of  the long term working capital to carry out the operation increases significantly, because with the same amount of naphtha provided, you may increase further oil production.

4.- There are important direct benefits at the refinery level when DCO arrives with a lower naphtha content.

HOW MUCH DAL-994® SHOULD BE USED TO OBTAIN THE BENEFITS MENCIONED ABOVE?

Each barrel of XP (159 liters) would require 242 milliliters or cubic centimeters (+/- 10%) of DAL-994® flow improver mixed with the naphtha, which equals 0.15% by volume and as mentioned above it would be the same as dropping  ¼ of one gallon of DAL-994 into a barrel of 42 gallons

ARE THESE NUMBERS AND DATA THE RESULT OF FIELD TESTS?

Yes they are, and come from test reports carried out in recent years in different wells along the OOC and are  available on request, including the most recent of December 2023 under INTEVEP overseeing.

AND WHAT IS THE COST OF DAL-994® PER BARREL OF XP PRODUCED?

The total cost is approximately six US Dollars (US $ 6.oo ) per barrel of XP produced which includes the  crude oil mobility enhancing chemical DAL-994® and  its controlled dosing by trained technicians.

AND WHAT ARE THE SAVINGS IN COST PER BARREL WHEN USING DAL-994®?

Considering that 22 % more oil will be transported, that the naphtha that reaches the oil clusters in the OOC will yield more than twice and that the cost of our chemical per barrel of XP is around 6 dollars per barrel, using DAL-994® Flow Improver will result in significant savings. (*).

(*) It would be necessary to know the company’s cost structure to give an exact figure.