Month: July 2009

Refers to the density of crude oils and the products refined from them. Heavy crudes are more dense and have higher final boiling points than light crudes which have more asphalt. Products refined from heavy crudes include asphalt, lubricants, waxes, fuel oils. and light fuels (white products). Light crudes yield a higher proportion of light fuels, waxes, lubes, and small amounts of asphalt

Crude oil with a low specific gravity and high API gravity due to the presence of a high proportion of light hydrocarbon fractions

Hydrocarbons with low molecular weight such as methane, ethane, propane and butane

Light fuel oil is a convenient heating fuel used to heat homes and buildings, and a fuel in industry, agriculture and ships. It also makes an ideal reserve and emergency fuel for industrial plants and power stations using other forms of energy

Crude oil with a high API gravity, usually more than 40?

Production and disposal or lifting of the petroleum discovered in a reservoir.

The costs associated with the extraction of a mineral reserve from a producing property or the cost to bring a barrel of oil to the surface. In Saudi Arabia the lifting cost is $2 per barrel of oil. In 2006, the average cost in Africa was $4 per barrel, in the U.S. $6.83, in Canada $8.30. There are also “finding costs” for exploration and development of oil fields – about $5.26 per barrel in the Middle East to as much as $63.71 for U.S. offshore oil. Add to that taxes, transportation and refining costs.