Chevron Corp. conducted an assay of crude from the Clair oil field off the UK west of Shetland.
BP PLC, the operator, began production from the field on Feb. 21, 2005 (OGJ, Mar. 7, 2005, p. 9). Plateau production will be 60,000 b/d of oil and 15 MMcfd of natural gas.
Oil from the field will move to the Sullom Voe terminal in the Shetland Islands through a 105 km, 22-in. pipeline, and gas will move through a 10 km, 6-in. spur to the Magnus enhanced oil recovery trunkline.
Clair, long considered “impossible to develop,” lies 47 miles west of Shetland in 140 m of water. The reservoir, which covers five license blocks-206/7a, 206/12, 206/8, 206/13a, and 206/9-has an estimated 5 billion bbl of oil in place.
Initial development will access 250 million bbl of oil reserves.
Development required investment of £650 million by BP and partners ConocoPhillips 24%, ChevronTexaco Corp. 19.4%, Royal Dutch Shell PLC 18.7%, and Amerada Hess Corp. 9.3%. BP, the operator, holds 28.6%.
Fig. 1 shows a true boiling point (TBP) curve for the whole crude (data from BP). Assay data are from Chevron.
Whole crude
- Gravity, °API: 23.7
- Specific gravity, 60° F.: 0.911
- Sulfur, wt %: 0.44
- Mercaptan sulfur, ppm (wt): 1.52
- Total nitrogen, wt %: 0.232
- Pour point, °F.: -25
- Viscosity at 70° F., cst: 83.5
- Viscosity at 100° F., cst: 37.8
- Vanadium, ppm (wt): 3.44
- Nickel, ppm (wt): 11.1
- rvp, psi: 1.22
- Flash point, °F.: 415
- Acidity, mg KOH/g: 1.2
Light gasoline
- TBP cut point, °F.: C 5-158
- Yield, vol %: 1.67
- Yield, wt %: 1.20
- Gravity, °API: 85.5
- Specific gravity, 60° F.: 0.652
- Volumetric average boiling point, °F.: 127
- Mercaptan sulfur, ppm (wt): 1.78
- Aniline point, °F.: 162
- Naphthenes, vol %: 2.22
- RON, clear: 69.8
- Smoke point, mm: 54.7
- Freeze point, °F.: -187
- Pour point, °F.: -224
- Viscosity at 100° F., cst: 0.487
- Viscosity at 140° F., cst: 0.429
- Viscosity at 210° F., cst: 0.363
Light naphtha
- TBP cut point, °F.: 158-212
- Yield, vol %: 1.77
- Yield, wt %: 1.43
- Gravity, °API: 60.8
- Specific gravity, 60° F.: 0.736
- Volumetric average boiling point, °F.: 191
- Mercaptan sulfur, ppm (wt): 1.87
- Aniline point, °F.: 153
- Naphthenes, vol %: 37.4
- Aromatics, vol %: 8.9
- RON, clear: 65.9
- Smoke point, mm: 46.1
- Freeze point, °F.: -160
- Pour point, °F.: -196
- Viscosity at 100° F., cst: 0.58
- Viscosity at 140° F., cst: 0.497
- Viscosity at 210° F., cst: 0.407
Medium naphtha
- TBP cut point, °F.: 212-302
- Yield, vol %: 5.48
- Yield, wt %: 4.67
- Gravity, °API: 50.7
- Specific gravity, 60° F.: 0.776
- Volumetric average boiling point, °F.: 257
- Mercaptan sulfur, ppm (wt): 1.79
- Aniline point, °F.: 133
- Naphthenes, vol %: 43.9
- Aromatics, vol %: 21.2
- RON, clear: 66.3
- Smoke point, mm: 37.9
- Freeze point, °F.: -128
- Pour point, °F.: -156
- Viscosity at 100° F., cst: 0.715
- Viscosity at 140° F., cst: 0.594
- Viscosity at 210° F., cst: 0.468
Heavy naphtha
- TBP cut point, °F.: 302-374
- Yield, vol %: 3.37
- Yield, wt %: 2.86
- Gravity, °API: 52.1
- Specific gravity, 60° F.: 0.771
- Volumetric average boiling point, °F.: 335
- Total sulfur, wt %: 0.01
- Mercaptan sulfur, ppm (wt): 1.96
- Aniline point, °F.: 112
- Naphthenes, vol %: 20.3
- Aromatics, vol %: 13.1
- RON, clear: 36.0
- Smoke point, mm: 30.1
- Freeze point, °F.: -96
- Pour point, °F.: -110
- Viscosity at 100° F., cst: 0.958
- Viscosity at 140° F., cst: 0.757
- Viscosity at 210° F., cst: 0.564
Light kerosine
- TBP cut point, °F.: 374-455
- Yield, vol %: 5.91
- Yield, wt %: 5.33
- Gravity, °API: 40.7
- Specific gravity, 60° F.: 0.822
- Volumetric average boiling point, °F.: 420
- Total sulfur, wt %: 0.01
- Mercaptan sulfur, ppm (wt): 2.04
- Total nitrogen, wt %: 0.001
- Aniline point, °F.: 130
- Naphthenes, vol %: 46.9
- Aromatics, vol %: 16.8
- RON, clear: 4.99
- Smoke point, mm: 22.7
- Freeze point, °F.: -60
- Pour point, °F.: -64
- Viscosity at 100° F., cst: 1.50
- Viscosity at 140° F., cst: 1.11
- Viscosity at 210° F., cst: 0.748
Heavy kerosine
- TBP cut point, °F.: 455-536
- Yield, vol %: 8.85
- Yield, wt %: 8.26
- Gravity, °API: 35.0
- Specific gravity, 60° F.: 0.850
- Volumetric average boiling point, °F.: 496
- Total sulfur, wt %: 0.04
- Mercaptan sulfur, ppm (wt): 2.09
- Total nitrogen, wt %: 0.001
- Aniline point, °F.: 138
- Naphthenes, vol %: 51.2
- Aromatics, vol %: 19.9
- RON, clear: -21.7
- Smoke point, mm: 17.6
- Freeze point, °F.: -25
- Pour point, °F.: -44
- Viscosity at 100° F., cst: 2.81
- Viscosity at 140° F., cst: 1.86
- Viscosity at 210° F., cst: 1.09
Atmospheric gas oil
- TBP cut point, °F.: 536-650
- Yield, vol %: 12.6
- Yield, wt %: 12.2
- Gravity, °API: 29.0
- Specific gravity, 60° F.: 0.881
- Volumetric average boiling point, °F.: 592
- Total sulfur, wt %: 0.23
- Mercaptan sulfur, ppm (wt): 2.13
- Total nitrogen, wt %: 0.008
- Aniline point, °F.: 146
- Naphthenes, vol %: 48.8
- Aromatics, vol %: 28.4
- RON, clear: -30.0
- Smoke point, mm: 13.6
- Freeze point, °F.: 24
- Pour point, °F.: 9
- Viscosity at 100° F., cst: 6.01
- Viscosity at 140° F., cst: 3.65
- Viscosity at 210° F., cst: 1.87
Vacuum gas oil
- TBP cut point, °F.: 650-1,049
- Yield, vol %: 35.4
- Yield, wt %: 36.4
- Gravity, °API: 19.7
- Specific gravity, 60° F.: 0.936
- Volumetric average boiling point, °F.: 829
- Total sulfur, wt %: 0.56
- Mercaptan sulfur, ppm (wt): 2.15
- Total nitrogen, wt %: 0.134
- Aniline point, °F.: 171
- Naphthenes, vol %: 63.3
- Aromatics, vol %: 22.2
- RON, clear: -30.0
- Smoke point, mm: 8.89
- Freeze point, °F.: 98
- Pour point, °F.: 88
- Viscosity at 100° F., cst: 115
- Viscosity at 140° F., cst: 37.5
- Viscosity at 210° F., cst: 9.99
Atmospheric residue
- TBP cut point, °F.: 650+
- Yield, vol %: 59.8
- Yield, wt %: 63.7
- Gravity, °API: 14.3
- Specific gravity, 60° F.: 0.970
- Volumetric average boiling point, °F.: 1,030
- Total sulfur, wt %: 0.64
- Mercaptan sulfur, ppm (wt): 1.25
- Total nitrogen, wt %: 0.362
- Aniline point, °F.: 183
- Naphthenes, vol %: 78.2
- Aromatics, vol %: 13.1
- RON, clear: -30.0
- Smoke point, mm: 6.90
- Freeze point, °F.: 185
- Pour point, °F.: 56
- Viscosity at 100° F., cst: 1,230
- Viscosity at 140° F., cst: 317
- Viscosity at 210° F., cst: 59.9
- Nickel, ppm (wt): 17.4
- Vanadium, ppm (wt): 5.40
Vacuum residue
- TBP cut point, °F.: 1,049+
- Yield, vol %: 24.4
- Yield, wt %: 27.3
- Gravity, °API: 7.03
- Specific gravity, 60° F.: 1.02
- Volumetric average boiling point, °F.: 1,340
- Total sulfur, wt %: 0.76
- Mercaptan sulfur, ppm (wt): 0.04
- Total nitrogen, wt %: 0.666
- Aniline point, °F.: 199
- Naphthenes, vol %: 99.8
- Aromatics, vol %: 0.00
- RON, clear: -30.0
- Smoke point, mm: 5.21
- Freeze point, °F.: 208
- Pour point, °F.: 152
- Viscosity at 100° F., cst: 6,360,000
- Viscosity at 140° F., cst: 364,000
- Viscosity at 210° F., cst: 10,600
- Nickel, ppm (wt): 40.5
- Vanadium, ppm (wt): 12.6
