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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) Medium oil has an API gravity between 22.3 and 31.1° (i.e., 870 to 920 kg/m 3) Heavy crude oil has an API gravity below 22.3° (i.e., 920 to 1000 kg/m 3)
Since API gravity is an inverse measure of a liquid's density relative to that of water, it can be calculated by first dividing the liquid's density by the density of water at a base temperature (usually 60 °F) to compute Specific Gravity (SG), then converting the Specific Gravity to Degrees API as follows: = =
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 ...
Thus, the API gravity or specific gravity is widely used for the classification of crude oils, based on a scheme proposed by the American Petroleum Institute (Table 1). A high API value >30 means a light crude with paraffinic character; a low API value means a heavy crude with increasing aromatic character. Table 1. Classifications of crude oil ...
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 FOB ( free on board , without consideration of ...
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.
Heavy crude oils have lower API gravity figures, and a larger percentage of impurities. [9] It is used in the making of heavier outputs - e.g., asphalt [6] - and has a higher viscosity, making it more difficult to transport and extract.