Texaco's Pembroke refinery processes first Doba crude

By OGJ editors

HOUSTON, June 24 -- ChevronTexaco Corp. subsidiary Texaco Ltd. reported it has successfully processed its first shipment of Doba crude at its Pembroke refinery in southwest Wales, following completion of a $12.8 million plant reconfiguration.

The heavy, acidic Doba crude is similar to North Sea crude that Pembroke currently refines, but Doba has a higher calcium content—250 ppm.

To enable Pembroke to refine Doba crude, which comes from Bolobo, Miandoum, and Kome oil fields in southern Chad, Texaco coated pipe interiors with a chemical inhibitor that provides a protective film, which is regularly monitored. With BakerPetrolite chemical company, Texaco also devised a process to treat the calcium in the refinery's desalter.