Method and systems for transporting bitumen in solidified form

A solid pellet comprising

• a core surrounded by a shell,
• the core comprising a mixture of crude oil refinery feedstock and a hydrocarbonaceous polymer, the polymer having a melting point temperature of at least 50° C., wherein the crude oil refinery feedstock before being mixed with the polymer to form the mixture is suitable for use as a feedstock to an oil refinery to separate the crude oil refinery feedstock into constituents that can be used as fuels, lubricants and feedstocks in petrochemical processes,
• the mixture having a first and a second non-miscible phases, the first phase being a crude oil refinery feedstock rich phase and the second phase being a polymer rich phase, the polymer having a solubility in the crude oil such that the crude oil refinery feedstock rich phase maintains compatibility with the oil refinery to allow separation of the crude oil refinery feedstock rich phase into said constituents.