Method for producing fuel oil

Abstract

Provided is a method that is for producing fuel oil and that can cheaply and highly efficiently produce a fuel oil—or starting material thereof—having as the primary component n-paraffin or isoparaffin from a starting material oil containing a fatty acid alkyl ester, even while reducing hydrogen pressure. The method for producing fuel oil has a step for producing fuel oil having one or both of n-paraffin and isoparaffin as the primary component by contacting hydrogen gas and a starting material oil containing a fatty acid alkyl ester under the condition of a hydrogen pressure of no greater than 1 MPa to a catalyst resulting from supporting on a porous metal oxide support one or more metal elements belonging to group nine or group ten of the periodic table, and one or more group six element oxides belonging to group six of the periodic table. The weight ratio of the group six elements to the metal elements contained in the catalyst is no greater than 1.0 in terms of the metal.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.