Patent ID: 7854833

Claim:
A method of producing a crude product, comprising: contacting a crude feed with a hydrogen source in the presence of one or more catalysts comprising a transition metal sulfide catalyst to produce a total product that includes the crude product, wherein the crude product is a liquid mixture at 25° C. and 0.101 MPa, the crude feed having a residue content of at least 0.2 grams of residue per gram of crude feed, as determined by ASTM Method D5307; controlling contacting conditions such that the crude product has a residue content of at most 30% of the residue content of the crude feed; and wherein the transition metal sulfide catalyst is obtained by: mixing a transition metal oxide and a metal salt to form a transition metal oxide/metal salt mixture; reacting the transition metal oxide/metal salt mixture with hydrogen to form an intermediate; and reacting the intermediate with sulfur, one or more compounds of sulfur, or mixtures thereof in the presence of one or more hydrocarbons to produce the transition metal sulfide catalyst.