Patent ID: 7534342

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 total acid number (TAN) of at least 0.3, and a sulfur content of at least 0.0001 grams of sulfur per gram of crude feed, and at least one of the catalysts having a pore size distribution with a median pore diameter of at least 90 Å, as determined by ASTM Method D4284; and the catalyst having the pore size distribution having per gram of catalyst, from about 0.0001 grams to about 0.08 grams of: molybdenum, one or more molybdenum compounds, 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 a sulfur content of about 90% to about 110% of the sulfur content of the crude feed, wherein TAN is as determined by ASTM Method D664; and sulfur content is as determined by ASTM Method D4294.