Upgraders were required to produce a “synthetic crude oil” that could be efficiently transported by rail or pipeline but the resulting characteristics of this synthetic crude oil and particularly of the contained bitumen are very different than that of conventional crude oil. In the 1990’s, global crude oil was trending towards heavy sour (sulfur-bearing) crude with the resulting asphalt production increasingly being fed to cokers to maximize the recovered value of the heavy crude.ĭevelopment of the Canadian Oil Sands and subsequent recovery of the sand-bound bitumen generated a new heavy crude but the recovered oil was too viscous to transport without dilution. The asphalt industry has experienced many complex challenges over the last 20-25 years and the continued success of individual companies is strongly dependent on efficient operations and utilizing new technologies and new products to solve the challenges they face.
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