List of crude oil products

In the international petroleum industry, crude oil products are traded on various oil bourses based on established chemical profiles, delivery locations, and financial terms. The chemical profiles, or crude oil assays, specify important properties such as the oil's API gravity. The delivery locations are usually sea ports close to the oil fields from which the crude was obtained (and new fields are constantly being explored), and the pricing is usually quoted based on F.O.B. (free on board, without consideration of final delivery costs).

Benchmarks

The three most quoted oil products are North America's West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), North Sea Brent Crude, and the UAE Dubai Crude, and their pricing is used as a barometer for the entire petroleum industry, although, in total, there are 46 key oil exporting countries. Brent Crude is typically priced at about $2 dollars over the WTI Spot price, which is typically priced $5 to $6 dollars above the EIA's Imported Refiner Acquisition Cost (IRAC) and OPEC Basket prices. WTI and Brent are quoted F.O.B specific locations, not F.O.B. the oilfields. For WTI, the delivery point is Cushing, OK; for Brent, it is Sullom Voe, an island north of Scotland.

Although crude oil assays evaluate various chemical properties of the oil, the two most important properties determining a crude's value are its density (measured as API specific gravity) and its sulphur content (measured per mass). Crude oil is considered "heavy" if it is high in wax content, or "light" if low in wax content: an API gravity of 34 or higher is "light", between 31-33 is "medium", and 30 or below is "heavy". Crude is considered "sweet" if it is low in sulphur content (< 0.5%/weight), or "sour" if high (> 1.0%/weight). Generally, the higher the API gravity (the "lighter" it is), the more valuable the crude.

List of crude oil products

Sources

• U.S. Energy Information Administration: World Crude Oil Prices
• BP Crude Grades
• Intertek: Crude Oil Grades and Types
• MeGlobalOil: Carriage of Heavy Grade Oil
• Statoil.com: Crude oil assays
• EnergyIntel.com: The Crude Oils and their Key Characteristics
• Capline system crude oil properties and quality indicators

References

1. ^ "Anasuria - FPSO Vessel". ship-technology.com. http://www.ship-technology.com/projects/anasuria/anasuria5.html. Retrieved 2008-09-11. 
2. ^ from Genesis Capital Management Group, Ltd. at [1]
3. ^ "Tariff classification of Petrozuata Heavy synthetic crude oil from Venezuela". United States International Trade Commission Rulings And Harmonized Tariff Schedule. 2005-04-11. http://www.faqs.org/rulings/rulings2005NYL83625.html. Retrieved 2008-09-11. 
4. ^ "Petrozuata Pipeline and Upgrader Plant, Venezuela". hydrocarbons-technology.com. http://www.hydrocarbons-technology.com/projects/petrozuata. Retrieved 2008-09-11. 
5. ^ "Plutonio". bp.com. http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9018172&contentId=7032776. Retrieved 2008-09-11. 
6. ^ "Poseidon Streams". bp.com. http://www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=16002780&contentId=7020199. Retrieved 2008-09-11. 
7. ^ "Vietnam sees 60,000 bpd new Su Tu Den crude by 2009". Reuters. 2007-10-09. http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSHAN8444420071010. Retrieved 2008-09-11.