Refineries respond to questions on importing Russian oil Providing public relief through import of Russian oil unlikely to be feasible
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By Asad Ullah Kamran & Ahmad Ahmadani
n separate letters on Friday, oil refineries responded to the Ministry of Energy on the question whether it is possible to import Russian crude, Profit has learnt. In a letter written by the Ministry of Energy on the 27th of June, managing directors of four refineries were asked to conduct a detailed analysis into the option of importing Russian crude oil along with recommendations and submit responses in this regard by June 28. The companies responded in a letter of their own addressing the issues and processes involved in importing Russian oil. The Ministry of Energy had highlighted five key parameters, cover the basic elements involved in importing oil, to be covered in the analysis by the refineries.
Technical Suitability
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he most fundamental question that has been asked before as well, is whether or not Russian oil is technically suitable to be refined.
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According to the letter written by PRL in response to the Ministry of Energy, it evaluated major Russian blends and summarised that only three blends were suitable given the configurations of refineries. According to PRL Sokol, which is essentially a light and sweet crude, Sokol has a larger proportion of intermediate distillates and a lower proportion of fuel oil. If Sokol were to be compared to other available grades, it would be PRL’s first choice of crude. Espo is a medium-light mix with a somewhat sweeter crude. The only drawback is the increased amount of fuel oil it requires, and getting rid of it will always be a difficult chore.The Ural blend, however, is a combination of heavy, light, and sour crudes. It will be challenging for the refiner to fulfil the required product sulphur standard due to the higher sulphur content. Additionally, this crude has greater levels of fuel oil, which will always make product disposal challenging. According to PARCO’s answer, preliminary technical evaluations show that some Russian crude grades are technically appropriate for processing at MCR in the region of 15% to 30% of the crude oil mix by substituting some of the existing grades.
The structure of National Refinery Ltd. lubricant refineries limits the range of feedstock, according to the letter sent to the Ministry of energy. They have occasionally tried in vain to find an alternative feedstock to Arabian light crude, which works with the refinery’s design. Cnergyico analysed various blends based upon the refinery configuration, and provided a table that gives detailed information. The table is provided below ranked based on most suitable to least suitable.
Quantity and Grades
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ith regards to the quantity and grades of the crude, given the information and other accessible data, as well as the fact that Urals has a sulphur content of no more than 1.4–1.6%, all of the aforementioned Russian crudes may be processed in PRL at a blend ratio of 75% Sokol, 50% ESPO, and 35% Urals, respectively. Sokol crude is preferred by PRL. But after assessing the subject crude’s economic feasibility in contrast to other crudes that PRL is already processing, a final decision on its
