An initial chemical composition comprising selected surfactants, dispersants, and degreasers that liquefy, disperse, demulsify, degrease, inhibit corrosion and scale formation, and lower the pour point of a petroleum, coal, Fischer-Tropsch synthesized, or naturally occurring paraffin-based wax and asphaltene. Such a product is capable of converting crystalline wax (paraffin) in, for example, slop oil into an amorphous form of wax at room temperature, allowing the wax to be dissolved in, for example, crude oil without the need for heating, and maintaining it in solution at room temperature, substantially reducing, indeed in some applications, preventing, for example, wax build-up in pipelines, processing and transportation equipment, etc., and the recovery of the hydrocarbons in the slop oil. In a second aspect of the invention, the pre-blend addition of a hydrotrope-demulsifier, a chelating agent and a wax plasticizer can result in a BS&W of zero for the recovered hydrocarbon blend.