Sweet crude oil

Sweet crude oil is a type of petroleum. The New York Mercantile Exchange designates petroleum with less than 0.42% sulfur as sweet. Petroleum containing higher levels of sulfur is called sour crude oil.

Sweet crude oil contains small amounts of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. High-quality, low-sulfur crude oil is commonly used for processing into gasoline and is in high demand, particularly in the industrialized nations. Light sweet crude oil is the most sought-after version of crude oil as it contains a disproportionately large fraction that is directly processed (fractionation) into gasoline (naphtha), kerosene, and high-quality diesel (gas oil). The term sweet originates from the fact that a low level of sulfur provides the oil with a mildly sweet taste and pleasant smell. Nineteenth century prospectors would taste and smell small quantities of oil to determine its quality.

Producers

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Producers of sweet crude oil include:

• Asia/Pacific:
  • The Far East/Oceania:
    • Australia
    • Brunei
    • China
    • India
    • Indonesia
    • Malaysia
    • New Zealand
    • Vietnam
  • The Middle East
    • Iraq
• North America:
  • The Appalachian Basin:
    • Pennsylvania Grade Crude Oil
  • The Mid-Continent Oil Field:
    • Louisiana Sweet
    • Texas Light Sweet (a.k.a. West Texas Intermediate )
  • The Trenton Formation:
    • Ontario
  • The Bakken Formation of
    • Manitoba
    • Montana
    • North Dakota
    • Saskatchewan

• Europe:
  • Northern Europe:
    • Russia
    • The North Sea area:
      • Norway
      • United Kingdom (Brent Crude)
        • England
        • Scotland
• Africa:
  • North Africa:
    • Algeria
    • Libya
  • Western Africa
    • Nigeria
    • Ghana
  • Central Africa
    • Angola
    • Democratic Republic of the Congo
    • Republic of the Congo
• South America:
  • The Guianas:
    • Suriname Guyana Basin

Pricing

Main article: Price of petroleum

The term "price of oil", as used in the U.S. media, generally means the cost per barrel (42 U.S. gallons) of West Texas Intermediate Crude, to be delivered to Cushing, Oklahoma during the upcoming month. This information is available from NYMEX or the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

See also

• Petroleum Classification
  • Light crude oil
  • Sour crude oil
  • Mazut
• List of crude oil products
• Oil price increases since 2003

External links

• EIA oil prices
• NYMEX website

• BBC News. "Oil markets explained". July 14, 2003.
• NextBigFuture, 26 January 2008 "A Saudi Arabia of Oil"