According to an article in Oil and Gas Journal for July 16, 2001, Sincrudos de Oriente Sincor CA is planning to commission its heavy oil upgrader in the Jose industrial complex by the end of this year.
The upgrader will transform the 8.5º API extra heavy oil from Orinoco to Zuata Sweet, a light, sweet crude mainly targeted for the United States market in early 2002.
After being mixed with a diluent, production from Sincor’s San Diego de Cabrutica field in southern Anzoateugi state will go to an upgrader in Jose, 200 kilometers away.
Sinocr is an association formed by TotalFinaElf (47%), Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA, 38%), and Statoil AS (15%). It plans to manufacture 180,000 barrels per day of 32º API Zuata Sweet in the first quarter of next year.
Among the operators in the Orinoco Belt, Sincor will have the lightest syncrude for sale. Petrozuata, a joint venture between Conoco Inc. and PDVSA, will be selling a 19 to 25º API crude; Cerro Negro, joint venture among ExxonMobil Corp, PDVSA, and Veba Oel, will be marketing a 16.5º API crude; and Ameriven Hamaca, joint venture among Phillips Petroleum Co., PDVSA, and Texaco Inc., plans to sell a 26º API crude. Sincor’s syncrude will also have the lowest sulfur content among its peers, less than 0.1 weight percent. The next sweetest offering will be Ameriven Hamaca’s 1.2 weight percent sulfur syncrude.
Unlike other production investments in the Orinoco Belt, Sincor’s partners have no dedicated outlet for its crude on the United States Gulf Coast and must sell it via international merchant markets. It will be targeting its crude to mainly the United States market.
Sincor has already drilled 193 of the 244 wells that will be online by the end of 2001. Thirty are already in production.
Since December 17, 2000, Sincor has been producing extra heavy crude from the Orinoco Belt. The production rate is 40,000 barrels per day, but it is expected to climb to 200,000 barrels per day by the end of the year, with a 35-year life.
In March 2001 Sincor announced that it had signed a pre-agreement for the sale of Zuata Sweet to a United States refinery. The syncrude will be sold on a combination of term and spot sales, mainly targeting United States Gulf Coast refineries. Byproducts, however, will be sold on term contracts only.
Also in March, Sincor signed agreements with TCP Petcoke Corp. and SSM Petcoke LLC, both based in the United States, for the sale of its coke. The upgrader’s future delayed coking unit will produce about 5,600 tons per day of coke.
With the signing of these agreements, Sincor has guaranteed the sale of its total coke production for the next 10 years.
The company is still looking for long-term contracts for its sulfur byproduct. During normal production, Sincor will make 900 tons per day of sulfur.
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