The sharp decline in U.S. condensate production since early 2015 and the end to the ban on U.S. crude oil exports a few months later were a one-two punch for the companies that made throughput commitments to condensate splitters and made other conde-related infrastructure investments. In what seemed like a flash, conde supply plummeted and the steep price discount to WTI and other light crude that made conde so attractive for splitting and exporting was gone. Holders of splitter capacity were paying top-dollar for what conde they could corral, and operators were forced to run their brand-new facilities at far less than capacity. And, when the general ban on crude exports was lifted in December 2015, the special status that conde had enjoyed since exports of lightly processed conde were permitted in June 2014 was a thing of the past. Today, we continue our review of a conde world in upheaval, this time with a focus on splitters and exports.
As we said in Part 1, superlight crude and conde sit side-by-side at the far end of the crude-oil spectrum. They’re both sweet (low-sulfur) and very pourable — superlight (using EIA’s API gravity breakdown, 50.1 to 55.0 degrees) is like iced tea, and conde (API gravity of 55.1 or more — also EIA’s breakdown) is like cream soda — and they can either be refined, exported, blended with heavier crudes, or (for conde) run through a splitter. A splitter uses atmospheric distillation to separate high-API-gravity conde into its component fractions to produce intermediate, semi-finished blend stocks like naphthas and distillates that are processed further at refineries. (More on splitters in a moment.)
Canadian crude output is rising, requiring new export routes. As traditional pathways face constraints, the U.S. Rockies—especially the Guernsey, WY hub—are emerging as key corridors for moving Canadian heavy crude to downstream markets, including the Gulf Coast.
Superlight crude and/or conde is produced in a number of U.S. shale plays, including the Permian, the Bakken, the Niobrara/Denver-Julesburg (DJ) and even the natural gas-focused Marcellus and Utica. But the King of Conde was and still is the Eagle Ford in South Texas, where at one point as much as 45% of the crude produced had an API gravity of 50 or more. From 2011 through 2014, U.S. production of superlight and conde rose steadily to a peak of about 1.1 MMb/d; conde was selling for several dollars a barrel less than light-crude benchmark WTI (API of just under 40 degrees); new splitters were being built to make fuller use of all that conde production and to provide refineries with more conde-derived blend stocks, and then in June 2014 the U.S. government approved the export of minimally processed condensate, 18 months before the ban for exports of crude to countries other than Canada was lifted.
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About the song
“Upside Down” was written by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards (Chic) and appears as the first song on side one of Diana Ross’s 11th studio album, diana. Released as the first single from the album, the song went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Disco, and Soul Singles charts. It has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Personnel on the record were: Diana Ross (lead vocals), Bernard Edwards (bass), Nile Rodgers (guitar), Tony Thompson (drums), Andy Barrett (piano), Raymond Jones (keyboards), and Alfa Anderson, Fonzi Thornton, Luci Martin, Michelle Cobbs (backing vocals).
Recorded between December 1979 and March 1980 at the Power Station in New York, diana was produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers. Ross and her production team had a falling out over the mixes, and she and Russ Terrana rerecorded her vocals and remixed the album at Electric Lady in New York, and Motown/Hitsville USA studio in Hollywood. The album was released in May 1980 and went to #1 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and #2 on the Billboard 200 Albums charts. It has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. Three charting singles were released from the LP.
Diana Ross is an American singer, songwriter and actress from Detroit. Ross rose to fame as the lead vocalist for The Supremes, Motown’s most successful act in the ’60s. She left The Supremes in 1970 to embark on a solo career that continues to this day. As a solo artist, she has released 25 studio albums, five live albums, 30 compilation albums, one EP, four soundtrack albums, and 91 singles. As an actress, Ross has starred in five motion pictures and been featured in 35 television shows. She has won seven American Music Awards, one Grammy Award, one Golden Globe Award, and one Tony Award. She has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award, a Presidential Medal of Honor, a Kennedy Center Honor, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She still records and tours, and released her 25th studio album, Thank You, in November 2021.
