Canada's MGX Minerals and partner Highbury Energy have begun research and development work on creating synthetic crude from oil refining byproduct petcoke. The aim is to manufacture a crude which can be used in a traditional refinery without any changes to infrastructure, and develop a long-term use for petcoke. This represents a potential long-term use for the large existing stockpiles of petcoke as well as ongoing output of petcoke and other waste products without significant changes to the existing refinery infrastructure. "We are working with the University of Alberta to explore how we could produce this product using existing technology at our refineries," said Jim McAlpine, president of MGX. MGX and Highbury have so far focused on extracting metals such as vanadium, nickel, and cobalt from petcoke, as well as hydrogen gas output.
Canada's MGX Minerals and partner Highbury Energy have begun research and development work on creating synthetic crude from oil refining byproduct petcoke. The aim is to manufacture a crude which can be used in a traditional refinery without any changes to infrastructure, and develop a long-term use for petcoke. "We are working with the University of Alberta to explore how we could produce this product using existing technology at our refineries," said Jim McAlpine, president of MGX. MGX and Highbury have so far focused on extracting metals such as vanadium, nickel, and cobalt from petcoke, as well as hydrogen gas output.