The oil tanker delivery rate is considerably greater than the processing capacity of the plant.
Crude oil tanks also allow offshore production to continue if the export route becomes unavailable.
Separator vessels and coalescers stabilise the crude and remove any sediments, produced water and allow light hydrocarbons to flash-off.
Separation of liquid from gas is done in slug catchers, which either comprise an array of pipes or a large cylindrical vessel.
The hydrocarbon dewpoint changes with the prevailing ambient temperature, the seasonal variation is:[5] January February March November October September August