AM-10-128 Crude Oil Quality Considerations under Carbon Cap and Trade

Description:

Purchase of carbon credits under a cap and trade program increases operating costs for refineries and changes the way a refinery operates. The degree of processing required to upgrade a heavy sour crude oil to finished products emits more greenhouse gases than making the same products from a light sweet crude oil. The difference in the greenhouse gases emitted also increases with increasing refinery complexity. This paper examines how crude oil quality impacts the level of carbon emissions from the refining process. Specifically, the paper explores the amount of greenhouse gases emitted as a function of crude quality for a full-conversion refinery utilizing hydrocracking and coking. The paper further highlights the relative contribution to the carbon emissions for different processing configurations downstream of the crude unit.