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The clear cut definition of light and heavy crude varies because the classification is based more on practical grounds than theoretical. The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) defines light crude oil for domestic U.S. oil as having an API gravity between 37° API (840 kg/m 3) and 42° API (816 kg/m 3), while it defines light crude oil for non-U.S. oil as being between 32° API (865 kg/m 3 ...
Heavy crude oil (or extra heavy crude oil) is highly viscous oil that cannot easily flow from production wells under normal reservoir conditions. [1] It is referred to as "heavy" because its density or specific gravity is higher than that of light crude oil. Heavy crude oil has been defined as any liquid petroleum with an API gravity less than ...
Generally speaking, oil with an API gravity between 40 and 45° commands the highest prices. Above 45°, the molecular chains become shorter and less valuable to refineries. [8] Crude oil is classified as light, medium, or heavy according to its measured API gravity. Light crude oil has an API gravity higher than 31.1° (i.e., less than 870 kg/m 3)
Crude oil is considered "heavy" if it has long hydrocarbon chains, or "light" if it has short hydrocarbon chains: an API gravity of 34 or higher is "light", between 31 and 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 ...
Crude oil is most commonly organised into four types - light, heavy, sweet, and sour. [6] Petroleum is a non-renewable energy source (also known as a " fossil fuel "), so the efficacy of extraction and refining is important for its continued use; multiple techniques are used to detect and to extract crude oil, based on the source rock it is ...
The API gravity of liquid crude oil ranges from 4º for tar rich in bitumen to condensates that have an API gravity of 70º. Heavy oils are classified between ultra-heavy oils and light oils. They have API gravities ranging between 10º and 20º. [4] Crude oil generated by petroleum source rocks has an API gravity of between 30º and 40º.
Light crude oil, which is less viscous than intermediate and heavy crude oil. Cycle oil, a light lubricating oil This page was last edited on 23 ...
Naphtha is used to dilute heavy crude oil to reduce its viscosity and enable/facilitate transport; undiluted heavy crude cannot normally be transported by pipeline, and may also be difficult to pump onto oil tankers. Other common dilutants include natural-gas condensate and light crude. However, naphtha is a particularly efficient dilutant and ...