Oil refineries responded to the Ministry of Energy in separate letters on Friday to the question of whether it is possible to import Russian crude.
The Ministry of Energy requested that the managing directors of four refineries conduct a detailed analysis into the option of importing Russian crude oil, along with recommendations, and submit responses by June 28.
The companies responded with their own letter, which addressed the issues and procedures involved in importing Russian oil.
The Ministry of Energy has identified five key parameters that cover the fundamental elements involved in importing oil and must be considered by refineries in their analysis.
Technical Applicability
The most fundamental question, which has been raised previously, is whether Russian oil is technically suitable for refining.
According to PRL’s letter to the Ministry of Energy, it evaluated major Russian blends and concluded that only three blends were suitable given refinery configurations.
Sokol, which is essentially a light and sweet crude, has a higher proportion of intermediate distillates and a lower proportion of fuel oil, according to PRL Sokol. When compared to other available grades, Sokol would be PRL’s first choice of crude.
Espo is a medium-light blend with a slightly sweeter crude. The only disadvantage is that it requires more fuel oil, and getting rid of it will always be a difficult task.
The Ural blend, on the other hand, is a mix of heavy, light, and sour crudes.
Due to the higher sulphur content, meeting the required product sulphur standard will be difficult for the refiner.
Furthermore, this crude contains higher levels of fuel oil, which will always make product disposal difficult.
Preliminary technical evaluations, according to PARCO’s response, show that some Russian crude grades are technically appropriate for processing at MCR in the range of 15% to 30% of the crude oil mix by substituting some of the existing grades.
According to the letter sent to the Ministry of Energy, the structure of National Refinery Ltd. lubricant refineries limits the range of feedstock.
They have tried in vain on occasion to find an alternative feedstock to Arabian light crude, which is compatible with the refinery’s design.
Cynergyco examined different blends based on refinery configuration and provided a table with detailed information. The table below is ranked from most suitable to least suitable.
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