Crude Oil Assay

Expert Crude Oil Assay service designed to aid the evaluation of Crude Oils and the optimisation through refinery systems

Intertek can offer a fully customisable Crude Oil Assay service to help our clients meet the challenges of the global oil market. With an ever changing crude slate available globally, knowing a crude oil is compatible with a refineries demands is key.

Clients face a number of potential challenges relating to use of crude oil. Factors including regional, environmental and economic can have an impact on the quality of the product available. Changes in a Crude Oil quality can be caused by variation due to depletion of a well, changes to blend ratios or the possibility of contamination. Crude Oil Assays can be used to monitor the impact of these variations.

In addition clients face variable challenges operating in the crude oil market including regional and seasonal changes in the demand of product and the impact chemical species may have on the refineries, such as catalyst poisoning and overhead corrosion. By monitoring the quality of the product clients can not only ensure operations continue to run smoothly but an assay also provides the information required to set the price when buying and selling crude oil, ensuring our customers are able to operate effectively in the marketplace.

Our experts are able to provide a detailed assay which would include a suite of crude oils properties, physical distillation up to 565ºC. The produced cut points can then be tested for a range of specification type properties including sulfur, nitrogen, acidity, viscosity, cold property tests and metals. If clients require more in-depth insight on a molecular level, detailed hydrocarbon analysis, sulfur and nitrogen speciation and mercury speciation can be performed.

Reports can be fully customised to fit the client’s needs including formats that can be used in modelling tools or LP’s. Intertek’s assay service provides quick monitoring of changes in crude oil yields by Rapid Yield (Flash) Crude Assay. Additionally investigation into possible contaminants, where contamination has occurred, can be provided using state-of the-art equipment.

Crude oil assay
Crude oil assay testing includes crude oil characterization of whole crude oils and the boiling-range fractions produced from physical distillation by various procedures. Petroleum assay data is used by clients for detailed refinery engineering and crude oil marketing. Feedstock assay data helps refineries optimize the refining process.

Petroleum assay evaluations
Atmospheric and vacuum distillations producing distillate fractions and residual bottoms similar to the actual refining process. Crude oil general properties analysis produces data including sulfur content, nitrogen content, viscosity measurements, cold property measurements and metals content. Detailed hydrocarbon analysis of crude oil off-gas is also run.

Crude oil assays vary in depth and complexity, dependent upon crude oil type and customer requirements. Intertek labs provide standard assay and custom crude evaluations. Individual characterizations can be presented in a variety of formats, including those capable of being downloaded into certain types of LP models. The unique molecular characteristics of each crude oil produced means that related assays, analysis requirements and reporting format services are offered by Intertek on a project quotation basis.

Intertek offer a comprehensive Crude Oil Assay service at strategic points around the globe, with laboratories in Europe, North America, Middle East and Australasia. As there is no industry standard assay, we are able to tailor the Crude Oil Assay service according to client requirements, providing customers a Total Quality Assurance service. Our laboratories hold various accreditations and the crude oil assays are performed by our in-house assay experts. Additionally we are able to offer clients the desired level of support, aiding in sample collection and organisation of sample delivery to the required laboratory.

Crude oil assay labs perform detailed hydrocarbon feedstock analyses and evaluation. Intertek's crude oil assay labs are staffed by expert petroleum chemists with state-of-the-art instrumentation. Intertek operates the world's leading independent crude oil assay laboratory network, with the critical expertise and capabilities required for full crude oil assay assessments and detailed hydrocarbons analysis.