What Is Light Crude Oil?

The relative density of crude oil is generally between 0.75 and 0.95, and a few are greater than 0.95 or less than 0.75. Relative density between 0.9 and 1.0 is called heavy crude oil, and less than 0.9 is called light crude oil. ^[1]

Light oil is generally brown and brownish yellow, and the relative density of the ground is less than 0.866. Viscosity, wax content and freezing point are all lower. The viscosity is generally 0.83 to 3.0 mPa · s , the wax content is 0 to 4.97%, and the initial boiling point is 68 to 70 . The gas-oil ratio is 210-977. The fraction is also higher at 60 % to 78 % .

1. The difference between light crude oil and heavy crude oil is the density of crude oil. Relative density of crude oil between 0.9 and 1.0 is called heavy crude oil; relative density of less than 0.9 is called light crude oil.

2. API Gravity is another indicator to distinguish between heavy crude oil and light crude oil. API Gravity greater than 31.1 belongs to light crude oil; API Gravity less than 22.3 belongs to heavy crude oil.

3. There are more high-distillation components in heavy crude oil, that is, there are more impurities, and the process and technology of extraction and refining are more complicated; there are fewer impurities in light crude oil, and the extraction and refining process and technology Relatively less complicated.

4. During the refining process, the same volume of crude oil, light crude oil can be refined to produce more high-value products (such as petroleum gas, aviation gasoline, gasoline, diesel, kerosene, etc.); while heavy crude oil can be refined There are relatively few high-value products, and a large part of the crude oil eventually turns into "dross" (such as lower-value products such as paraffin and asphalt). Therefore, light crude oil is more popular and the international market price is relatively high; while the popularity of heavy crude oil is not so high, and the international market price is also lower than light crude oil.