Patent ID: 8372267

Claim:
A method for upgrading crude oil, the method comprising: (a) contacting a crude oil feedstock with hydrogen gas to produce a hydrogen gas crude oil mixture; (b) contacting the hydrogen gas crude oil mixture with a hydroconversion catalyst in a first reactor maintained at a temperature of between about 400° C. and 450° C. to produce an effluent having an asphaltene content of less than 5% by weight, wherein said hydroconversion catalyst comprises a bimodal support material; (c) supplying the effluent from the first reactor to an interstage separator to remove a light fraction comprising hydrocarbons having fewer than 5 carbons, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia; (d) contacting the effluent from the first reactor with hydrogen gas to produce a effluent hydrogen gas mixture; and (e) contacting the effluent hydrogen gas mixture with a desulfurization catalyst in a second reactor to produce an upgraded crude oil product having a reduced sulfur content and an increased API gravity, wherein said second reactor is maintained at a temperature that is less than the temperature that is maintained in the first reactor.