In an effort to reduce their total processing costs, sour crude producers often seek to refine sour crude into heavy oil products such as diesel and fuel oil (as opposed to gasoline).
The top five largest oil producers are the following countries:
- United States. The United States is the top oil-producing country in the world, with an average of 19.47 million barrels per day (b/d), which accounts for 19% of the world's production.
- Saudi Arabia.
- Russia.
- Canada.
- China.
For most people brief contact with a small amount of oil will do no harm. Some people are more sensitive to chemicals, including those found in crude oil. Swallowing small amounts (less than a coffee cup) of oil will cause upset stomach, vomiting, and diarrhea, but is unlikely to have long-lasting health effects.
Sweet crude refers to crude oil that is extracted that is found to contain very low amounts of sulfur. It is considered a valuable and efficient source of crude oil due to the fact that sulfur lowers the yield of various refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, and even plastics.
Any oil with an API gravity below 22 is considered “heavy oil.” Less dense, or “light oil” has an API gravity of greater than 31. Light oil is preferable to heavy oil because a higher percentage of the hydrocarbons are converted into things like gasoline. That's why light oil trades at a premium to heavy oil.
It generally has a low wax content. Light crude oil receives a higher price than heavy crude oil on commodity markets because it produces a higher percentage of gasoline and diesel fuel when converted into products by an oil refinery.
Crude oil contains small amounts of sulfur, nitrogen and oxygen compounds as well as trace amounts of heavy metals. Crude oil (sour) contains hydrogen sulfide. Crude oil (sour) is extremely flammable and can cause eye, skin, gastrointestinal, and respiratory irritation.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is a good example of sweet crude oil, while oil from Canada and the U.S. Gulf Coast tends to be sour.
It is less “light” and “sweet” than WTI, but still excellent for making gasoline. Brent blend is generally priced at about a $4 per barrel premium to the OPEC Basket price or about a $1-2 per barrel discount to WTI. WTI is also known as Light Sweet Crude, the majority of which is located in the Permian oil Field.
While crude oil may contain numerous other impurities (heavy metals, waxes, salts, etc.), oil with a high sulfur content is considered “sour” and low-sulfur oil is “sweet”.
API gravity is a commonly used index of the density of a crude oil or refined products. API stands for the American Petroleum Institute, which is the industry organization that created this measure.
The purpose of removing the sulfur is to reduce the SO2 emissions. The HDS process involves catalytic treatment with hydrogen to convert the various sulfur compounds present to hydrogen sulfide.
Crude oil tastes like blenderized dead and rotting trees. The mouth-feel of crude oil is something like soy sauce that has been reduced for hundreds of thousands of years. The mouth-feel of crude oil is something like soy sauce that has been reduced for hundreds of thousands of years.
Diesel fuel contains sulfur which derives from the original crude oil source and can still be present after refining. After combustion in the engine, the sulfur in fuel forms particulates that are a primary contributor to air pollution and the cause of harmful corrosion in the engine.
Petroleum—or crude oil—is a fossil fuel that is found in large quantities beneath the Earth's surface and is often used as a fuel or raw material in the chemical industry. It is a smelly, yellow-to-black liquid and is usually found in underground areas called reservoirs.
The Sulphur content of crude oils varies from less than 0.05 to more than 10 wt% but generally falls in the range 1–4 wt%. Crude oil with less than 1 wt% sulphur is referred to as low sulphur or sweet, and that with more than 1 wt% sulphur is referred to as high sulphur or sour.
Key Data
| Label | Value |
|---|
| Last | 75.15 |
| Prior Settlement | 75.225 |
| 52 Week High | 75.225 |
| 52 Week Low | 35.8 |
Did you know that there are over 160 different types of crude oil traded on the market? West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent Crude, OPEC Reference Basket, Dubai Crude, Bonny Light and Urals are just six of many. Luckily, you don't have to learn the whole list.
A partial list of products made from Petroleum (144 of 6000 items)
| Solvents | Diesel fuel | Motor Oil |
|---|
| Speakers | Plastic Wood | Electric Blankets |
| Tennis Rackets | Rubber Cement | Fishing Boots |
| Nylon Rope | Candles | Trash Bags |
| Water Pipes | Hand Lotion | Roller Skates |
We produce five different grades of crude oil. These are: Arabian Heavy, Arabian Medium, Arabian Light, Arabian Extra Light, and Arabian Super Light.
Types of Motor OilMotor oil can be segmented into four basic varieties—synthetic oil, synthetic blends, high mileage oil, and conventional oil.
Understanding the Different Types of Engine Oil
- Conventional Oil. Conventional oil is your standard motor oil.
- Full-Synthetic Oil. Synthetic motor oil is manufactured entirely in a factory, or lab.
- Synthetic Blend Oil.
- High-Mileage Oil.
- About Christian Brothers Automotive.
Crude is classified by both physical and chemical characteristics. Crude oil is referred to as either light, medium, or heavy, based on its density. The American Petroleum Institute gravity, commonly shortened to API gravity, compares the density of crude to water.
Brent blend is ideal for making Motor Spirit (Petrol) and middle distillates. Brent crude production is also on the decline, but it remains the major benchmark for other crude oils.
Originally Brent Crude was produced from the Brent oilfield. The name "Brent" comes from the naming policy of Shell UK Exploration and Production, operating on behalf of ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell, which originally named all of its fields after birds (in this case the brent goose).
In the United States, West Texas Intermediate is the preferred measure and pricing model. It is also slightly "sweeter" and "lighter" than Brent. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is slightly lower in price than Brent. As of November 2, 2020, WTI was trading at $38.76 per barrel, while Brent traded at $41.19.
- United States: 19.51 million bpd. The United States has been the top oil-producing country in the world since 2017.
- Saudi Arabia: 11.81 million bpd.
- Russia: 11.49 million bpd.
- Canada: 5.50 million bpd.
- China: 4.89 million bpd.
- Iraq: 4.74 million bpd.
- UAE: 4.01 million bpd.
- Brazil: 3.67 million bpd.
WTI is the main oil benchmark for North America as it is sourced from the United States, primarily from the Permian Basin. The oil comes mainly from Texas. It then travels through pipelines where it is refined in the Midwest and the Gulf of Mexico.
The market value of an individual crude stream reflects its quality characteristics. Two of the most important quality characteristics are density and sulfur content. Density ranges from light to heavy, while sulfur content is characterized as sweet or sour.
