Abstract: The removal efficacy of three synthetic zeolite materials for the selective removal of metal ions from crude oil was investigated. The zeolite materials used for the study include; zeolite A, zeolite Y and zeolite K-L. Nickel, vanadium and sulphur were the target metals due to the problems they pose during the hydroprocessing of crude oil. The result shows that, zeolite A is able to remove all the metal ions considered (nickel, vanadium and sulphur) at concentrations of 0.035ppm, 0.25ppm and 51.13ppm respectively. Zeolite Y and zeolite K-L showed removal of nickel and sulfur, at concentrations of 0.004ppm and 52.58ppm respectively for the Y zeolite and 0.011 and 43.23ppm respectively for the K-L zeolite. The later zeolites were unable to remove vanadium from the crude oil. The study thus showed the selectivity of the synthetic zeolites for the different metal ions.