Patent ID: 7955499

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, the crude feed having a TAN of at least 0.3 and the crude feed having, per gram of crude feed, a total Ni/V/Fe content of at least 0.00002 grams, at least one of the catalysts having a pore size distribution with a median pore diameter of at least 250 Å, as determined by ASTM Method D4282, and the catalyst having a total molybdenum content, per gram of catalyst, from about 0.001 grams to about 0.3 grams of molybdenum, one or more compounds of molybdenum, calculated as weight of molybdenum, or mixtures thereof; and controlling contacting conditions such that the crude product has a TAN of at most 90% of the TAN of the crude feed, and the crude product has a total Ni/V/Fe content of at most 90% of the Ni/V/Fe content of the crude feed, wherein Ni/V/Fe content is as determined by ASTM Method D5708 and TAN is as determined by ASTM Method D664.