A method for removing water from a fluid hydrocarbon, which comprises:
contacting the a feed stream of the hydrocarbon with a treating agent comprising an aqueous solution of a drying salt having an affinity for water,
subjecting the mixture of hydrocarbon and treating agent to coalescence/separation to coalesce the non-hydrocarbon components of the hydrocarbon/water/treating agent mixture to form larger size coalesced liquid droplets,
separating the coalesced liquid droplets comprising water and dissolved drying salt from the hydrocarbon to form a partly dried hydrocarbon stream and a drying salt solution stream,
contacting the partly dried hydrocarbon product with a solid drying salt having an affinity for water to form a dried hydrocarbon product and a stream of an aqueous solution of the drying salt by dissolution of the drying salt in water contained in the partly dried hydrocarbon stream,