The present inventions are related to oil and gas recovery, and in particular to enhanced oil and gas separation during oil and gas recovery.

A subsea fluids storage facility comprises a tank (11) for holding and separating fluids which is equipped with ballast capacity (14) and a separable base (12) to be deployed upon the seabed in shallow or deep water, and the storage facility is connectable to a surface production facility, especially a buoy (24) for processing fluids. In deep water the tank (11) is held at a depth above the base (12) for temperature controlled stabilization of produced oil in the tank (11).

A catalyst for producing monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, used for producing monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons of 6 to 8 carbon number from a feedstock oil having a 10 volume % distillation temperature of at least 140° C. and an end point temperature of not more than 400° C., wherein the catalyst contains a crystalline aluminosilicate, gallium and/or zinc, and phosphorus, the molar ratio between silicon and aluminum (Si/Al ratio) in the crystalline aluminosilicate is not more than 100, the molar ratio between the phosphorus supported on the crystalline aluminosilicate and the aluminum of the crystalline aluminosilicate (P/Al ratio) is not less than 0.01 and not more than 1.0, and the amount of gallium and/or zinc is not more than 1.2% by mass based on the mass of the crystalline aluminosilicate.

The catalyst for producing aromatic hydrocarbon is for producing monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon having 6 to 8 carbon number from oil feedstock having a 10 volume % distillation temperature of 140° C. or higher and a 90 volume % distillation temperature of 380° C. or lower and contains crystalline aluminosilicate and phosphorus. A molar ratio (P/Al ratio) between phosphorus contained in the crystalline aluminosilicate and aluminum of the crystalline aluminosilicate is from 0.1 to 1.0. The production method of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon is a method of bringing oil feedstock having a 10 volume % distillation temperature of 140° C. or higher and a 90 volume % distillation temperature of 380° C. or lower into contact with the catalyst for producing monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon.

Method for characterizing a heavily biodegraded oil sand ore sample by microwave-assisted bitumen extraction. Vacuum-filtration of solvent-extracted bitumen and sediments provides a means to recover sediment fines down to a particle size of 0.8 μm, which is the analytical requirement for accurate mineralogical analysis of the clay mineral fraction. The method may be completed in hours, making it suitable for “just-in-time” analyzes at the mine site. The recovered sediment and sediment fines are suitable for characterization using traditional analytical techniques to understand mineralogy, petrology, and reservoir properties.

A heavy petroleum oil feed is upgraded by having its amenability to cracking improved by subjecting the oil to selective partial oxidation with a catalytic oxidation system to partially oxidize aromatic ring systems in the heavy oil. The partially oxidized oil can then be cracked in the conventional manner but at lower severities to lower molecular weight cracking products. The cracking following the partial oxidation step may be thermal in nature as by thermal cracking, delayed, contact or fluid coking or fluid catalytic cracking or hydrogenative as in hydrocracking.

A catalyst for producing monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons of 6 to 8 carbon number from a feedstock oil having a 10 volume % distillation temperature of at least 140° C. and an end point temperature of not more than 400° C., or a feedstock oil having a 10 volume % distillation temperature of at least 140° C. and a 90 volume % distillation temperature of not more than 360° C., wherein the catalyst contains a crystalline aluminosilicate, gallium and/or zinc, and phosphorus, and the amount of phosphorus supported on the crystalline aluminosilicate is within a range from 0.1 to 1.9% by mass based on the mass of the crystalline aluminosilicate; and a method for producing monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the method involving bringing a feedstock oil having a 10 volume % distillation temperature of at least 140° C. and an end point temperature of not more than 400° C., or a feedstock oil having a 10 volume % distillation temperature of at least 140° C. and a 90 volume % distillation temperature of not more than 360° C., into contact with the above-mentioned catalyst for producing monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Catalytic system which can be used in processes for the hydroconversion of heavy oils by means of hydrotreatment in slurry phase, characterized in that it comprises: a catalyst, having the function of hydrogenating agent, containing MoS.sub.2 or WS.sub.2 or mixtures thereof in lamellar form or an oil-soluble precursor thereof; a co-catalyst, having nanometric or micronic particle-sizes, selected from cracking and/or denitrogenation catalysts. The co-catalyst preferably consists of zeolites having small-sized crystals and with a low aggregation degree between the primary particles, and/or oxides or sulfides or precursors of sulfides of Ni and/or Co in a mixture with Mo and/or W.

A method and apparatus for the cracking of a petroleum oil feedstock to produce a desulfurized full-range gasoline product. The petroleum oil feedstock is contacted with a base cracking catalyst and an FCC additive in an FCC unit, wherein the catalyst includes a stable Y-type zeolite and a rare-earth metal oxide and the additive includes a shape selective zeolite. The catalyst, additive and petroleum oil feedstock can be contacted in a down-flow or riser fluid catalytic cracking unit, that can also include a regeneration zone, a separation zone, and a stripping zone. The FCC unit includes an integrated control and monitoring system that monitors at least one parameter selected from FCC operating parameters, feed rate, feedstock properties, and product stream properties, and adjusts at least one parameter in response to the measured parameter to increase production of desulfurized products.

A process for facile separation of lighter hydrocarbon fractions from the heavier fractions of hydrocarbon oil feedstocks is disclosed, which utilizes novel sparging and reverse distillation techniques. The present invention can be utilized for the facile “topping” of crude oil extracted on-site. Moreover, while heavier hydrocarbon fractions may be shipped to refineries for further processing, this invention will also prove useful for quick separation of light fractions produced by cracking processes off-site.