Patent ID: 7736490

Claim:
A method of producing a crude product, comprising: contacting a crude feed with one or more catalysts 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, and the crude feed has a total acid number (TAN) of at least 0.1; wherein at least one of the catalysts comprises vanadium, one or more compounds of vanadium, or mixtures thereof and an additional catalyst comprising one or more metals from Columns 5-6 of the Periodic Table, one or more compounds from one or more metals from Columns 5-6 of the Periodic Table, or mixtures thereof and wherein hydrogen is generated during contacting of the crude feed and the vanadium catalyst; and controlling contacting conditions such that the crude product has a TAN of at most 90% of the TAN of the crude feed, wherein TAN is as determined by ASTM Method D664.