A CRUDE oil Question

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Fri Nov 11, 2011 9:33 am

I have been getting quite a few emails about the Bakken oil discovery in Montana, the Dakotas, and Southern Western Canada. Conspiracy theories so far have involved everything but Space Aliens who want the oil to drink for dinner.
Is the oil a Sweet Crude that is low in sulfur or is it like the Alaska oil that has a higher sulfur content?
If the Bakken oil is a sweet crude, that will mean lower refining costs for both Gasoline and Diesel fuels.

BugginKJ · **Joined:** Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 4576

Funny you mention this.
A fellow at the barber shop the other day was speaking of this very subject. He says he works for an oil company that has done extensive testing there and it is the best oil they have ever seen, I do remember him saying something about sweet crude. A massive amount of oil also, he also mentioned that it lays smack dab in the middle of a Cherokee reservation. How much of this is true, I have no clue.

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Fri Nov 11, 2011 6:46 pm

I hope that guy is right.
Most of the Alaska oil gets sold to Japan because the higher sulfur content, they are willing to remove it.
As much as I recommend Tree Huggers invest their retirement portfolios in Exlax, the oil companies will not pay more to remove sulfur from the crude oil to make fuel if they don't have to, so they buy the sweet crude. Perhaps if the oil in the new find is sweet crude, there will be jobs for lawyers going after the environmentalist lawyers who block oil drilling.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Fri Nov 11, 2011 9:23 pm

I had heard Bakken was discovered in the 50's - that it hasn't been tapped much - because it's shale oil - and it depended on the technology getting better - and the price of oil - high enough to make it cost effective.....

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Sat Nov 12, 2011 11:41 am

ATXKJ wrote:

I had heard Bakken was discovered in the 50's - that it hasn't been tapped much - because it's shale oil - and it depended on the technology getting better - and the price of oil - high enough to make it cost effective.....

The cost on Saudi oil to get it out of the ground and to the ships is only $2 per barrel (44 gallons).
Some of the email threads put the cost of getting the Bakken oil into the pipeline at $16 per barrel.

The Canadian Tar Sands oil has to have the price of oil between $60-$70 per barrel to cover the costs. Sorry I don't have the get it into the pipeline figure for a fair comparison.

My employer just made a major sale of equipment (Lamela Gravity settlers) to the Canadian oil operations. For logistical and other reasons the major parts of the equipment will be fabricated in Calgary, AB Canada.

A CRUDE oil Question

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