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The time of “white oil. Light vs. dark

Elena Sheina, an engineer of the technological department of OMSKNEFTEKHIMPROEKT, PJSC, explains to the RCC observer the peculiarities of Western Siberian gas condensate resources and the main links in the process of deep processing of this raw material, with a focus on a higher output of motor fuels.

- What could you say about the specifics of HA processing?

The extraction and processing of gas condensate, in comparison with oil or natural gas, is a relatively new branch of the country's oil and gas complex. HA processing is carried out in two main directions: chemical - obtaining monomers for the organic synthesis industry (ethylene, propylene, acetylene, divinyl, benzene, etc.) and fuel - producing motor gasolines, kerosene, diesel fuels and fuel oil.

The scheme for processing HA with a high content of aromatic hydrocarbons includes the extraction of natural aromatic hydrocarbons and subsequent processing of narrow fractions to obtain additional amounts of aromatic hydrocarbons or high-octane gasoline components.

The Urengoy condensates have a high content of naphthenic hydrocarbons, so this gas condensate can be considered a valuable petrochemical feedstock for the production of aromatic hydrocarbons. Studies have also found that when converting reforming units from petroleum feedstock to gas-condensate feedstock, the yield of aromatic hydrocarbons significantly increases.

- What is the specificity of the West Siberian resources of the GC?

HK fields in Western Siberia are distinguished by a high content of a broad fraction of light hydrocarbons (NGLs), which, I repeat, are valuable petrochemical raw materials. In terms of consumption for petrochemical synthesis, low-molecular-weight alkanes are in first place among all classes of hydrocarbons, and the most important areas of their processing is pyrolysis. To obtain individual hydrocarbons suitable for chemical use, various gas fractionation units are used. More precisely, installations based on condensation-distillation methods for separating gas mixtures, depending on the composition, are designed with both descending and ascending pressure regimes.

What, in your opinion, are the main advantages of deep processing of these raw materials, obtaining and using appropriate products?

The main amount of GC is currently processed together with oil at the refinery. The possibility of expanding the resource base by involving the GC in the raw materials of the primary processing of JSC Gazpromneft-ONPZ for the production of motor fuels was considered required quality: gasoline n.k. - 180 ° С, TS-1 kerosene, a component of summer diesel fuel.

The advantages of stable gas condensate as a raw material for primary processing are the high content of fractions boiling up to 350 ° C, the absence of water and C1-C3 hydrocarbons, as well as the content of salts with a fraction of less than 3 mg / l. All these factors make it possible, firstly, to process SGK at the refinery without preliminary desalination and dehydration; secondly, they provide an increase in the depth of primary processing and the volume of output of motor fuel fractions.
Therefore, it seems relevant to expand the resource base by involving stable gas condensate in the processing to obtain motor fuels.

- What are the main characteristics of the technological "chains" of HA processing?

The stable gas condensate fractionation unit consists of a heat exchange unit, a topping unit and an atmospheric unit. The scheme of SGK processing includes preliminary topping of hydrocarbons in the column (К-1). After that, the stripped gas condensate enters the main atmospheric column for rectification, where kerosene and diesel fractions are taken.

In PJSC "OMSKNEFTEKHIMPROEKT" a computer model of the stable gas condensate fractionation unit was made. In this model, a flow of unstable gasoline is combined with a topping and atmospheric columns. Moreover, the atmospheric column is the main column of the fractionation unit, two side discharges are removed from it - the kerosene and diesel fraction; unstable gasoline goes "on top".

The stripping of light components in the first stripping is carried out due to the evaporation of a part of the kerosene fraction in the reboiler; the second circulating irrigation of the column enters it as a heat carrier. The stripping of light components in the second stripping is carried out by supplying live water vapor.

Along with the usual oil and gas, mining companies extract from the bowels of the earth a not so well-known, but no less important mineral - gas condensate. At the same time, the rate of development of the gas condensate industry, both the world in general and the Russian in particular, is still extremely low.

What is condensate and how is it obtained?

During drilling operations, a colorless or slightly colored liquid is formed from the gas mixture in the deposits - this is gas condensate. It is a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons. The content of the liquid part in a cubic meter of condensate ranges from 10-700 cubic centimeters (by weight - 5-10 grams per the same volume). This fraction owes its name to the mechanism of its formation - by condensation from natural gases.

Gas condensate

Like any condensate, gaseous condensate also falls out at the time of the transition of a substance from a gaseous to a liquid due to a decrease in pressure and temperature. In this case, heavy hydrocarbons contained in the reservoirs act as liquefied substances. V natural conditions deposits of gasoline-kerosene fractions and higher molecular weight components are under pressure up to 60 MPa, while drilling it sharply decreases. The bulk of this feedstock is recovered from gas condensate-oil and clean gas-condensate fields. Condensate, albeit in much smaller quantities, is formed during the processing of associated petroleum gas during the separation of "black gold" in industrial conditions.

Gas condensate deposits are primary and secondary. The former are located at depths of more than 3.5 kilometers; oil accumulations do not take part in their formation. In turn, secondary deposits arise from the reverse evaporation of oil feedstock. In addition, gas condensate deposits are classified according to the degree of saturation. Thus, a distinctive property of saturated formations is the identity of the pressure in the subsurface and the pressure of the beginning of condensation. Unsaturated reservoirs are characterized by the level of reservoir pressure, the value of which is greater than the mark at which the condensation process begins.

Gas condensate production: 1 - hydrocarbon deposits; 2 - feeding the gas-liquid mixture to the processing plant; 3 - cooling and low temperature separation; 4 - the gas obtained as a result of separation is supplied to consumers; 5 - condensate is supplied to the refinery for further processing

The production of gas condensate is associated with certain technological difficulties. The fact is that during the transition to a liquid state, hydrocarbons remain in the rock channels, the extraction of raw materials from which is very laborious. To prevent condensate from getting stuck in the subsoil, production operators have to artificially maintain the usual pressure for deposits. At present, no effective method has been developed to maximize condensate recovery; the technology of re-injection of gas into the reservoir after its topping is used, that is, filtering out the most valuable components.

What is made of this raw material?

Gas condensate is a valuable mineral and is not inferior either in its importance to the economy or in a rich set of valuable components to pure natural gas and oil. However, in terms of composition, condensate is much closer to crude oil than to “blue fuel”. That is why producing companies must additionally indicate the amount of gas condensate in their reports on the development of hydrocarbon deposits. Although condensate is mainly produced by the operators of gas fields, in the professional jargon it has received the famous name - "white oil".

The main areas of application of gas condensate are the production of fuels and petrochemical products. In the fuel segment, a wide range of ready-to-use fuels is produced from condensate - from popular gasoline brands to fuel for boilers. In particular, AI-80, AI-92, AI-95 gasoline is produced. Gasoline fuel, which is obtained from gas condensate, has a low knock resistance, therefore, antiknock agents have to be additionally used in the production process.

Also, a wide-fraction fuel for high-speed diesel engines is produced from the condensate. Vehicle, which can be used in harsh climates - temperatures up to minus 30 degrees Celsius. In addition, gas condensate fuel with additives is produced, suitable for use in even colder conditions. To obtain fuel for winter use, gas condensate undergoes a dewaxing procedure, otherwise the fuel has a high pour point and cloud point, that is, it can be used only in the summer.

To meet the needs of industrial and municipal enterprises in fuel, technical propane, butane and their mixtures are produced from condensate. In the petrochemical sector, gas condensate feedstock acts as a base for the production of aromatic hydrocarbons (xylene, oluene, benzene) and olefins - components for the further production of fibers, resins, rubber and plastics. Isopentane, pentane-hexane fractions and the same mixtures of butane and propane, separated from the condensate, act as raw materials.

From mining to processing

To obtain the aforementioned products, the produced gas condensate is sent for processing. The production process involves, first of all, the transformation of unstable gas condensate into stable one. The latter differs in that it does not contain dissolved gases. Such gases - these are mainly butane and methane fractions - are formed in the composition of feedstock during production, when the pressure decreases to a level of 4–8 MPa as the main volumes of condensate are sampled.

Complex gas treatment unit

At the processing facilities, the condensate is brought to the desired state using the degassing procedure and purification from impurities. The obtained stable raw materials, depending on the place where they are produced, are divided into field (if processing is carried out near the well) and factory (sent to gas processing plants). Unstable condensate, after passing through deethanization, is transported under its own pressure along condensate lines. After arriving at the gas processing plant, such a source material undergoes primary processing, as a result of which gasoline, diesel fuel, liquefied gases, and fuel oil are obtained.

A typical algorithm for processing unstable condensate looks like this:

After being extracted from the subsoil, the mixture is transported to a complex preparation unit.
The unit separates the condensate and the gas part.
The gas obtained as a result of separation is supplied before the tie-in into the main-type gas pipeline, and from there it is transferred to consumers.
Condensate, in turn, is pumped up to the tie-in of the condensate pipeline, from where it is fed to another unit designed to prepare raw materials for transportation.
The unit for the preparation of raw materials produces condensate deethanization. Refined products are distributed as follows: deethanized condensate (84%), deethanized gas (14.7%). Losses account for another 1.3%.
Further, the deethanization gas, like the separation gas, is supplied to gas pipelines and transported to consumers.
Deethanized condensate enters the condensate pipeline and is sent to the stabilization plant. Already there, the raw materials are processed to obtain liquefied gases, stable condensate and diesel fuel.
For further processing, stabilized raw materials are transported by bulk transport or pumped through special pipeline systems to petrochemical and other enterprises.

World industry market and the situation in Russia

Despite the introduction efficient technologies condensate processing the present stage in the development of subsoil, the volume of its production all over the world is significantly inferior to the indicators of the extraction of basic hydrocarbons - oil and gas. This situation has developed historically and is due to the fact that the gas condensate industry is relatively young. For a long time, oil companies were interested only in the extraction of "black gold", while gas companies were developing traditional deposits. The need to develop gas condensate fields increases with the depletion of conventional gas blocks.

Russia, on the other hand, boasts impressive reserves of gas condensate. Explored resources and promising deposits are estimated by geologists at a total of 2 billion tons. However, the rate of development of condensate deposits is growing extremely slowly. In particular, the average annual production recent years fluctuates within 30 million tons, including in the shelf areas - at the level of 2.5 million tons. The growth of the rate of extraction of raw materials every year is up to 5-10% per year. We will remind, Pronedra wrote earlier that in "Gazprom" condensate by 10% in three years.

Gas condensate field No. 22 of the Urengoyskoye oil and gas condensate field

The increase in production, at the same time, falls mainly on the onshore blocks, while in the shelf zones its intensity decreases. Among Russian regions Uralskiy is the leader in terms of condensate recovery federal district where up to 76% of this raw material is mined. The annexation of Crimea to Russia practically did not change the statistics of production - the level of production on the peninsula in the context of the all-Russian indicator does not exceed 0.16%.

Refining capacities in Russia significantly exceed production. Russian enterprises are capable of processing more than 56 million tons of raw materials per year, but the annual volume of condensate supplies for stabilization is one and a half times less. Although the forecast for gas condensate production both in Russia and around the world as a whole is positive and provides for an annual growth of this indicator, there are certain factors constraining the development of the industry. The main reason for the slow growth and delay in the development of new fields is the lack of specialized pipeline systems for the transportation of condensate.

In addition to the fact that Russia has failed to establish sustainable development of condensate production, as well as supplying it to the domestic market and loading national processing facilities, it is still seriously inferior to the main exporters of raw materials in terms of supply volumes. The main player in the international gas condensate market is the United States, which provides almost a third of supplies. The rest of the volumes were divided among themselves by Canada, Australia, Algeria and South American states. Russian exports are still minimal. For example, the Gazprom group supplies abroad about 250 thousand to 600 thousand tons of such raw materials per year. Fluctuations in the volume of exports downward are associated with the redistribution of supply volumes in favor of the domestic market.

Construction seaport Sabetta on the shores of the Kara Sea for transshipment of hydrocarbons from the South Tambeyskoye gas condensate field (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug) and further transportation of natural gas and gas condensate to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region

At a small pace, but overall. There are quite real prospects for the Russian Federation to master large-scale supplies to the Asia-Pacific region, the market of which is characterized by a continuous increase in demand. A purely geographical factor that minimizes transport and logistics costs will also contribute to the establishment of exports to Asia.

However, the optimistic forecasts for Russia are not supported by skeptical industry analysts, who assume that the Asian market will be completely conquered by American and Australian suppliers. Attempts to stimulate and regulate the gas condensate segment in Russia, including by eliminating export duties and revising fiscal payments, are still temporary solutions and only indicate that there is currently no long-term development strategy for the industry in the country.

Despite the current situation, one cannot fail to note the positive shifts that have played in favor of the expansion of the national gas condensate business. At the current stage, the Russian condensate market depends little on external factors and remains stable. The experience of recent years has shown that even such powerful levers as currency fluctuations and changes in tax legislation do not affect the gas condensate field.

Railway terminal for discharge of stable gas condensate (SGC) at the Omsk refinery

Regardless of the external shocks of recent years, Russian operators, which are oriented towards foreign buyers, continue to export supplies, and enterprises interested in participating in the domestic market consistently ensure the availability of sufficient supply. The stability of the industry is facilitated by its high economic profitability. In particular, the degree of profitability of processing gas condensate is higher than that of oil.

In addition, due to production features The volume of light oil products output at gas condensate refineries is higher than at enterprises working with oil, although, we recall, oil refining in Russia. Favorable initial conditions still give hope that the development of the Russian gas condensate segment will proceed, if not quickly, but stably, and, therefore, the optimists' forecasts regarding the launch of the eastern direction of export may come true over time.

On May 19, Moscow hosted the Third International Conference "Gas Condensate 2015" organized by the company CREON Energy.

The gas condensate market is still closed, there is little information on it, and the CREON Energy conference is, in fact, a unique platform where industry participants can meet and discuss topical issues. And there are more and more of them every year. Sanjar Turgunov, General Director of CREON Energy, noted that now market players are cautiously awaiting the first consequences of the tax maneuver. Whether they will be, and if so, which ones is one of the key topics of the event. Many problems, voiced at the last year's conference, have not been resolved either, primarily those related to transportation. There remains a shortage of pipelines and infrastructure in general, which makes the development of new remote fields ineffective. New sales markets, project financing - Mr. Turgunov also propose to discuss these topics within the framework of the conference.

At the end of 2014, production of gas condensate (GC) in Russia amounted to 26.2 million tons, which is 5.2% more than in the previous year. Such data was reported by Olga Vronskaya, Chief Specialist department of monitoring of the oil and gas industry "CDU TEK". Of this volume on the shelf, 2.38 million tons were produced, the figure remained approximately at the level of 2013. Russian shelf Sakhalin Energy and Exxon remain, while last year Crimean Chernomorneftegaz joined the offshore companies, its production volume in 2014 was 61.4 thousand tons.

At the end of the 1st quarter of 2015, gas condensate production was recorded at the level of 7.86 million tons, which is 18.6% higher than the indicator for the same period last year. The growth was due to onshore fields, the production of HA on the shelf fell by 3%.

The mid-term production forecast for the existing fields assumes the extraction of 31 million tons of gas condensate.

The first place in terms of production is firmly held by Gazprom (14.5 million tonnes in 2014), followed by Novatek (3.28 million tonnes) and PSA operators (2.23 million tonnes). Geographically, the maximum production is in the Ural Federal District (in 2014 - about 70% of the total volume), where the main production facilities for stabilizing gas condensate are located.

Ms. Vronskaya noted a significant decrease in GC exports in 2014 - only 1.3 million tons were shipped to external consumers against 3.17 million tons a year earlier. This is primarily due to the reorientation of shipments through the port of Vitino to the complex in Ust-Luga.

Overview of the world and Russian markets gas condensate was presented by the deputy general director CREON Energy Philip Nikonov. According to him, the production of GC in Russia has been steadily growing over the past six years, with an average growth rate of 8% per year. A significant part of the condensate (83%) is produced by three companies - Gazprom (58%), Novatek (19%) and Rosneft (6%), the rest falls on PSA operators (Sakhalin) and the largest vertically integrated oil companies. At the same time, Gazprom plans to increase gas condensate production from the current 15 million tons to 17 million tons by 2017.

In the regional context, the world leaders in the production of GC are Severnaya and South America(47%), followed by the Middle East (31%) and Europe (11%). As for specific countries, the USA is by far the leader in terms of production (almost 146 million tons in 2014, 31% of world output), the second place is Saudi Arabia(91 million tons), followed by Canada (32.4 million tons), Russia with 26.2 million tons is on the fourth line.

The consumption structure looks different. The APR countries, with a low production volume, are among the largest consumers of condensate (about 30 million tons). In particular, India accounts for 18% of this volume, South Korea - 33%, Japan - 34%. V South Korea HA consumption in 2014 increased by 10% due to demand from oil refineries and chemical enterprises. The situation was similar in India (+ 8%) and Japan (+ 19%).

According to the speaker, the volume of gas condensate exports from Russia is currently minimal and does not have a significant impact on the world market. However, if projects are implemented in the Far East and Sakhalin, the Russian GC will have a significant competitive advantage due to its proximity to the largest APR markets.

The tax maneuver in the oil industry, launched in 2015, could not but affect related industries. According to Leonid Kruchinin, Deputy Marketing Director of Impexneftekhim, the theoretically possible consequences of the maneuver for the gas condensate market could be: a decrease in the volume of gas condensate production by some companies, for which the increase in severance tax could not be compensated by a decrease in duties, which could lead to a decrease in the profitability of fields; an increase in the processing of SGK at refineries as a result of an increase in the efficiency of processing in comparison with shallow oil refining, which involves the export of fuel oil; reduction of supplies to the "gray" market segments as a result of a decrease in their economic attractiveness.

According to the expert, it is premature to raise the question of a reliable assessment of the impact of the tax maneuver on the SGK market, and not only because only four months have passed, but also because many other factors significantly influenced the market during this period (oil prices, exchange rates, falling demand, seasonality, etc.).

Analyzing the changes in flows, today we can single out only two clearly pronounced precedents of the influence of the tax maneuver, namely, an increase in SGK refining volumes at Gazprom neftekhim Salavat and the Omsk refinery (Gazprom neftekhim Salavat in four months by 216 thousand tons (45% ) increased the volume of gas condensate refining supplied by rail, Gazpromneft-ONPZ - by 254 thousand tons (3.8 times). These are the only major projects to replace oil refining with gas condensate at refineries, and they have been implemented by those companies that have SGK's own resource The potential for replacing oil by SGK (even taking into account the existing infrastructural restrictions at refineries) has not yet been exhausted.

In general, it can be said that large producers of SGK have not changed their marketing strategy for placing it on the market, and it is too early to raise the issue of changing the ratio of the attractiveness of exports and own processing of SGK at refineries. If such decisions are made, it will be only by the end of the year.

The 10-15% decrease in SGK supplies to the gray market segments noted over the four months may be the result of both maneuver and a drop in gasoline demand caused by the crisis in the economy, and it is too early to make a final conclusion.

The report provoked a lively discussion among the conference participants; an interesting remark was made by Gazprom Neft. According to Sergey Donskov, head of the direction of advanced technologies for petrochemical products, all tax deductions for excise taxes for petrochemical companies proposed by the Government of the Russian Federation are denominated in rubles. At the same time, the key coefficients of MET and export duties are tied to the cost of a barrel and the dollar exchange rate. The panellists expressed their interest in how the Government will address this issue.

The Gazprom Group's annual production of unstable gas condensate is 13-15 million tons; after stabilization, the company receives 9-10 million tons of SGK. Such data was reported by Dmitry Virobyan, head of the oil export department of Gazprom Export. All gas condensates of Gazprom are predominantly light, but differ in their characteristics. Thus, the Astrakhan GC contains a large amount of mercaptan sulfur, nevertheless, it is in demand among large foreign processors. In 2014, one consignment of Astrakhan condensate was successfully shipped for export through Ukraine (the port of Ilyichevsk), but this year such a scheme is impossible. Sosnogorsk GK is also successfully supplied to foreign markets, although the high content of paraffins requires the use of special additives.

Mr. Virobyan noted that the main sales market for Gazprom's gas condensate is domestic, i.e. the structure of the monopoly itself. Nevertheless, export is also an important strategic direction. According to the speaker, in 2015 the volume of shipments to foreign markets may amount to 700-800 thousand tons. The main producers of SGK for export purposes are the Surgut ZSK, the Portovaya compressor station, the Sosnogorsk gas processing plant and the Sakhalin-3 project. The latter was put into operation in 2014: in October, the Gazprom Group began supplying SGK from the Kirinskoye gas condensate field. The project is 100% owned by the monopoly, there are no foreign participants and is not planned. The project operator is Gazprom Dobycha Shelf Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Deliveries are carried out via the pipelines of Gazprom and Sakhalin Energy. After mixing the SGK with Sakhalin Blend oil, the mixture is sent for export via the Prigorodnoye port (the main consumers are the Asia-Pacific countries). Since the launch of the project, 55 thousand tons have been shipped. According to the speaker, the peak production is expected from 2019-2020. and will amount to 800 thousand tons with a gradual further decrease. A special feature of the project is the exemption of the deposit from customs duties.

Industry expert Andrey Vashchenko spoke about the transportation of gas condensate by railroad... For the period 2010-2014 Gazpromtrans increased the traffic volumes for Gazprom from 3.9 million tons / year to 4.35 million tons / year. In the 1st quarter of 2015, 1.1 million tons were transported. In 2014, the Transoil Group, despite the deteriorating business environment, increased the volume of oil and oil products transportation by 6%. Among individual cargoes, the highest growth rates were shown in the transportation of gas condensate, the volume of which increased by one third - up to 5 million tons. The bulk of the GC volume in the group's transportation structure was provided by the Purovsky ZPK of the Novatek company.

Mr. Vashchenko emphasized that at the moment the fleet of tanks for the transportation of GCs is excessive. Talk about a shortage of rolling stock (and, as a consequence, an increase in tariffs) appeared last year after Freight One announced its intention to write off 10 thousand units. However, at the moment, the Government of the Russian Federation is discussing the possibility of changing the conditions for re-registering the park and, accordingly, making possible further repairs and modernization. In addition, the expert noted, the OVK company announced plans for the production of new tanks, which will close the possible deficit from the write-off of old ones.

The representative of the company "Neftetransservice" Vladimir Pozdeev did not agree with his colleague. In his opinion, OVK tanks will be designed not for petroleum products, but for chemistry. He also believes that the fleet is still shrinking: in four months of 2015, fewer new barrels were registered than last year, and much less than decommissioned.

The head of the department for work with oil companies of Freight One, Sergei Nazarov, commented on the situation as follows: “The issue of tank wagons shortage arose after the RF Government issued a decision to prohibit the extension of the service life of wagons in August 2014, which encouraged operators to write off rolling stock. The current situation in terms of the number of the fleet is stable and meets the demands of the market for the transportation of oil products, including gas condensate. At the moment, car builders cannot offer operators a rolling stock model that has significantly improved consumer characteristics relative to those in operation. Therefore, Freight One does not exclude the possibility of extending the service life of the wagons through the modernization of the wagon fleet, but the final decision will be made on the basis of economic analysis after approval of the terms of renewal. "

Elena Sheina, engineer of the technological department of Omskneftekhimproekt, spoke about the company's experience in creating a scheme for processing GK according to the fuel option for Gazpromneft-ONPZ. The goal of the project is to expand the raw material base of the refinery by involving SGK in the processing to obtain motor fuels (gasoline, TS-1 kerosene and a component of summer diesel fuel). The design of a fractionation unit has been developed, which allows processing HA without preliminary desalination and dehydration. The depth of processing and the yield of motor fuel fractions increase in comparison with the processing of HA mixed with oil.

Professor of the Russian State University of Oil and Gas. Gubkina Mikhail Levinbuk once again stressed the need for accelerated modernization of Russian refineries in the context of sectoral sanctions. The new motto of the Russian oil industry should be import substitution of equipment and technologies, as well as export substitution of oil for products with high added value. According to Mr. Levinbuk, the environmental motivation for the introduction of class 3, 4 and 5 standards for fuels in the Russian Federation made it possible to completely exclude domestic science and companies from participating in refinery modernization projects, and foreign companies received enormous profits due to the repeated implementation of previously used technologies. ... In this regard, given the absence of a significant difference in the environmental factors of Euro-3, 4 and 5 standards, it is necessary to introduce zoning of the chemical composition of fuels by analogy with the USA, but not as it was done in Europe. V existing conditions a time-out is required for investments in the oil refining industry until the economy is fully adjusted, the choice of all processes at refineries, taking into account the fact that the largest Russian companies have included the cost of equipment and technologies in rubles in their plans to modernize their refineries, and this, in turn, has led to a significant increase their cost. It is necessary to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the key projects for the country and business, taking into account changes in world oil prices.

Fares Kilzie, CEO of CREON Energy, is of the opinion that “the conference held by the company showed that gas condensate remains a product for the energy elite, which does not want to obey the existing general rules, and sometimes dictates his own. Just as we said earlier about LPG, the direction of gas condensate export in the long term will be dubious due to the emergence of alternative supplies from the USA and Australia. Therefore, zeroing export duties and manipulating fiscal payments under the Civil Code is an intermediate solution and the absence long-term strategy for its processing on the territory of the Russian Federation ”.

Industry experts note the growth of activity in the field of gas condensate production, which is in high demand on the world market. For Gazprom Neft, the appearance of a gas component in the project portfolio made it possible to maintain the operating performance of the Omsk Refinery at an acceptable level. Gas condensate dilutes the "darkening" oil supplied to the enterprise through the "Transneft" system

Despite the obvious value of gas condensate as a feedstock for petrochemicals and oil refining, it is still a by-product for both gas and oil workers. Therefore, until recently, work with gas condensate was carried out on a leftover basis, and it did not appear as a serious resource in the balance sheet of Russian oil and gas companies. At giant fields, such as Astrakhan or Orenburg, that is, easily accessible, with a developed transport and industrial infrastructure, gas condensate was involved in processing, and in the remote northern fields it was unprofitable.

The fact is that gas condensate deposits, as a rule, lie below the 2000 m mark and, when it is possible to extract virtually pure methane from the Cenomanian horizon (650-1700 m), it does not make much sense to go lower behind a more complex product. Moreover, considering that the processes of transportation and preparation of this raw material require considerable investments in the creation of infrastructure.

The volume of gas condensate production from oil fields was also insignificant. It is found only in deposits with a high gas ratio, therefore, GK was either simply burned together with associated petroleum gas, or, in the absence of systems for separate collection and transportation of well products at treatment units, was mixed with commercial oil. However, today the situation has changed.

"Dilution" of heavy oil with light gas condensate allows the Omsk Refinery to maintain production performance
at a high level

Particularly valuable addition

The value of gas condensate is due to the very characteristics of this feedstock - in fact, ultra-light, high-quality oil with a corresponding potential for the yield of light oil, which, with an equal volume of processing with conventional oil, allows obtaining large quantity petroleum products. At the same time, the profitability of GK supplies abroad is higher than that of crude oil - savings on export duties due to the lower density of gas condensate in comparison with Urals (rates, recall, are set per unit mass) is quite significant. Gas condensate may also become one of the drivers of growth in hydrocarbon production in the country in the medium term, replacing shelf and shale oil that was delayed in the market due to sanctions and the collapse of oil prices.

By the way, at one time it was the production of gas condensate in projects for the development of shale gas fields that supported American companies after the fall in gas prices. Russian gas companies have also stepped up work in this direction - according to analysts at Gazprombank (quoted by Bloomberg), in 2015 condensate production will increase by 17% (600 thousand barrels per day, or 5% of the total annual oil production in Russia), and Wood Mackenzie experts predict a 50% increase in gas production in Russia by 2018 compared to the results of 2014 (8% of the total oil and gas production in Russia). And most of this "new condensate" comes from the fields of the Urengoy cluster, which Gazprom Neft is developing together with NOVATEK. In total, Arcticgas and Northgas will produce at their peak more than 7 million tons of gas condensate per year.

Gas condensate

A mixture of liquid hydrocarbons (C5H12 + higher), released from natural gases during the operation of gas condensate deposits as a result of a decrease in reservoir pressure and temperature. The higher the pressure and temperature, the more liquid hydrocarbons can be dissolved in the gas. Gas condensate consists of gasoline, kerosene and, to a lesser extent, higher-boiling components. For the majority of gas condensate, the yield of gasoline fractions exceeds 50% (usually 70-85%). The density of condensates is 660-840 kg / m 3. Distinguish between crude (primary product released from gas of a gas condensate reservoir in field conditions) and stable gas condensate, from which dissolved gases have been removed.

Stable gas condensate is a valuable gas-chemical raw material; it is also used for the production of gasoline, aviation fuel, as an additive to crude oil to improve its quality parameters.

Between gas and oil

In principle, there are no special differences in the production of gas and gas condensate: the same horizontal wells, hydraulic fracturing; the only thing that needs to be considered when selecting technologies and equipment is great depths and higher reservoir pressure. The differences start at the surface. In an integrated gas treatment unit (GTP), the product produced from the well is separated into dry gas (methane, ethane) and a mixture of heavier hydrocarbon fractions (propane, butane, petroleum fractions), which is called unstable gas condensate. Further, through a special pipeline (it retains the properties of a liquid only under pressure), unstable condensate is sent to another stage of preparation - stabilization. In the case of Gazprom Neft, deethanized condensate from the assets of the Urengoy cluster goes through a 300-kilometer pipeline to the Purovsky condensate processing plant of NOVATEK, whose capacity has been expanded to 11.5 million tons per year for the forthcoming increase in production. Here the raw material is separated into gas fractions (propane-butane) and stable condensate (SGC). This is the very light "oil from gas" that is sent to consumers. For Gazprom Neft, the main point of departure is the Omsk Refinery, for which the appearance of a gas condensate flow from the Urengoyskoye field can be compared to a gulp clean air: The deterioration in the quality of oil supplied through the Transneft pipeline has become a rather serious problem for the most modern and high-tech refinery in Russia.

Most of the "new condensate" in Russia comes from the fields of the Urengoy cluster of Gazprom Neft and NOVATEK

Light vs. dark

The Omsk Refinery was initially focused on refining oil from West Siberian fields, the large-scale development of which began in the middle of the last century. Accordingly, the technologies of the enterprises, a set of installations were focused on receiving light Siberian oil (Siberian Light). However, today Siberian oil is a raw material of a completely different quality. Dilution of heavy oil with light gas condensate made it possible to partially solve this problem.

Today, gas condensate is simply pumped into the company's oil pipeline. However, the Omsk Refinery modernization program includes the construction of a new primary processing complex ELOU-AVT, one of the technological elements of which will be an SGK processing unit with a capacity of 1.2 million tons per year.

This volume already requires the creation of a separate infrastructure, primarily logistics. The main object of this infrastructure is the new stable gas condensate receiving terminal. Large-scale modernization is underway and the reception of stable gas condensate. Large-scale modernization is also underway at the Kombinatskaya station, where trains with raw materials for the Omsk refinery arrive.

Raw materials from the Urengoy cluster are processed at the Purovsky condensate processing plant

Condensate receiver

According to the specialists of the Gazpromneft-Logistics company, today on average 72 tank cars are sent to the Omsk Refinery from the Purovsky ZPK every day, which is about 4 thousand tons of gas condensate. The route of 2 thousand km is covered in three to four days.

The capacity of the new railway terminal for discharge, storage and pumping into processing of SGK is the same 72 tanks per day, 36 railway tanks are simultaneously serviced. The maximum annual transshipment volume is synchronized with the design capacity of the condensate processing unit - 1.2 million tons.

In addition to the unloading ramp itself, the terminal, the construction of which cost 1.7 billion rubles, includes access roads with scales, a tank farm for 20 thousand tons, a control room with a control system and a pumping station for draining and pumping condensate.

Already at the design stage of the terminal, serious attention was paid to the issues of minimizing the load on the environment: the evaporation of oil products is practically excluded due to the installation of floating pontoons on the tanks, as well as nitrogen cushions on the tanks.

Considered and not the simplest natural conditions in which the terminal will have to work. Winters in Omsk are cold, therefore, it is possible to heat the gas condensate directly in the tanks, which significantly speeds up the draining process and excludes the formation of non-technological non-draining residues.

Capacity of the new discharge terminal SGK - 72 tanks per day

Going to the peak

The Omsk Refinery began processing stable gas condensate in 2011, starting from 10 thousand tons. In 2012, this amount doubled, and in 2013 it increased by more than an order of magnitude - up to 400 thousand tons, and river supplies were added to the railway supplies - a significant share came to the Irtysh plant. Of course, there will be no more such growth spikes - they are characteristic of new projects, however, the curve showing the volume of SGC involved in processing is still tending upward. It will peak in next year- 1.2 million tons, which is almost 6% of the total refining volume of the Omsk Refinery.

According to expert forecasts, gas condensate production in Russia will peak in 2020. So far, there is no particular specifics in assessing the resource base that will be used to load the existing gas condensate infrastructure. It is obvious that large oil fields with a powerful gas cap, such as the Novoportovskoye field of Gazprom Neft, have sufficient potential in terms of GC production. Of course, the scale of the oil resource base is incomparable with the potential of gas assets. but special programs prospecting and development of promising gas condensate deposits exist in all the largest Russian gas and oil companies... Given that today's economic conditions create significant added value for this already premium raw material, it is easy to assume that the gas condensate spurt will not end in 2020. And for sure no one will burn "white oil" in torches.

Characteristics of bottom and reservoir sludge.

Hydrocarbons from 5 to 90%
Water from 1 to 72%
Mechanical impurities from 0.8 to 85%
Density of oil sludge from 830 to 1700 kg / m3
Pour point from -3 to +80 deg-s
Flash point from 35 to 120 degrees-s.

Oil sludge is the main waste of oil refineries and petrochemical enterprises. This type of waste is generated during the drilling of wells, as a result of cleaning Wastewater containing oil at treatment plants and during cleaning of tanks. Slimes are heavy oil residues that contain, on average (by weight):

from 10 to 56% of petroleum products,
from 30 to 85% water,
from 1.3 to 46% solids.

All sludge poses a certain danger, therefore they are stored in special sludge collectors. Sludge collectors, which are open-type land tanks intended for storing sludge, occupy rather large areas. In addition, such structures are fire hazardous, and are a source of potential environmental pollution, which occurs due to the evaporation of oil products. The result of this evaporation is soil pollution and groundwater... Therefore, today the neutralization and complete utilization of oil sludge is one of the the most acute problems for oil-producing regions.

Oil sludge processing methods

Currently, the following methods of processing and neutralizing oil sludge are widely used:

1. Combustion of oil sludge in the form of water emulsions with subsequent utilization of the released heat. This method is the most common because it is the simplest and most reliable. However, with this technology it is difficult to achieve an economic effect, which is unacceptable in modern conditions.

2. Dewatering and drying of oil sludge with the return of the formed oil products to production (this process is more progressive than the previous one, but requires much more capital investment).

3. Processing of oil sludge into pyrogas. This technology makes it possible to increase the utilization rates of oil, and today it is the most advanced, since high-quality fuel is obtained from waste in this case. However, not every waste recycling plant decides to install a similar attitude due to its relatively high cost. Although it is completely in vain - today a sludge processing plant can be a profitable, highly profitable enterprise.

Gas condensate is essentially liquid carbohydrates containing light gases such as:

propane;
butane;
methane;
ethane.

Processing technology

Gas condensate processing consists in the separation of gases from condensate in order to obtain such types of products in a stable state as:

straight-run gasoline;

light carbohydrates.

This is achieved on large enterprises specializing in the processing of gas condensates through a technological procedure consisting of the following stages:

1. Rectification, consisting in the procedure for separating the mixture by means of heat exchange between the gas and liquid components;

2. Hydrotreating sulfur compounds in raw materials by means of hydrogen at high pressure and temperature levels;

3. Isomerization, which consists in changing the structure of a substance in order to increase its octane number.

Gas condensate processing is the separation of gases from condensate, and thus obtaining two products in a stable state for further use: light carbohydrates and straight-run gasoline (stable gasoline).

Refining is carried out at gas condensate processing plants, the largest of which have huge capacities (up to 6 million tons per year). In short, the process cycle is divided into several phases:

rectification in special rectification columns, continuous or periodic, representing the process of separating a mixture by heat exchange between liquid and gas components;
hydrotreating is a process aimed at reducing sulfur compounds in petroleum products, which occurs at high temperatures and high blood pressure under the influence of hydrogen;
isomerization (with recycle) - a change in the structure of a substance to increase the octane number of gasoline, it can be high, medium, and low temperature, the latter is considered the most promising method.

The result of condensate processing is the production of motor fuels High Quality(high-octane): gasoline, aviation, diesel, as well as raw materials (polymers) for the production of polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, synthetic rubbers, polyester, butyl alcohol, acetone, phenol, etc.

Gas condensate processing is used to obtain the following types of products:

High quality engine oils;
High-octane gasoline grades;
Different kinds polymeric materials.

http://additive.spb.ru/upgk.html

Gas condensate (oil) processing unit

Gas condensate processing unit includes the following units:

Raw material preparation unit;

Hydrotreating unit fr. NK-360 ° С (see hydrotreating technology);

Unit for rectification of hydrotreating products into fractions for further processing;

Catalytic reforming unit (see catalytic reforming technology and datasheet);

Reformate rectification unit;

Light gasoline hydroisomerization unit;

Hydroisomerate rectification unit;

Compounding unit for commercial products.

The main products of the installation:

commercial gasolines Normal-80 in accordance with GOST R 51105-97, Regular Euro-92 and Premium Euro-95 in accordance with GOST R 51866-2002, (complies with Euro-3 standards) and Super Euro-98 in accordance with GOST R 51313-99. The unit is designed for a maximum output of Premium Euro-95;

diesel fuel according to GOST 305-82 or GOST R 52368-2005 (Euro-4);

fuel oil.

Requirements for the quality of modern high-octane gasolines produced according to the Euro-3 specification and higher limit the content in them benzene no more than 1,0 % about.

To achieve this indicator for the benzene content, the technology uses the process hydroisomerization, which includes the hydrogenation of benzene contained in the nk-85 C fraction of reforming products and in the nk-85 ° C fraction of hydrotreatment products, followed by its isomerization to methylcyclopentane (MCP). In the process, the reactions also occur isomerization of n-paraffins to iso-paraffins, which also leads to an increase in the octane number of the product obtained. Side reactions - opening of naphthenic rings with the formation of hexanes and hydrocracking of raw materials to products with a lower number of carbon atoms, mainly propane and butanes.

In this technology, at the hydroisomerization unit, the feedstock is used, consisting of a mixture of the NK-85 ° C hydrogenate fraction and the NK-85 ° C fraction of the reformate. This raw material is used to obtain a hydroisomerizate with an octane number according to the research method OCHI not less 79 (76 HRM).

For release commercial gasoline Regular Euro-92, the recommended recipe is 60% wt. heavy reformate and 40% wt. hydroisomerate, which corresponds to the balance production of products at the installation. For the production of gasoline Premium Euro-95 and Ai-98, it is necessary to use MTBE in the composition at a concentration of up to 15% by weight:

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