Light crude oil is liquid

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

that has a low

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...

and flows freely at

room temperature Room temperature, colloquially, denotes the range of air temperatures most people find comfortable indoors while dressed in typical clothing. Comfortable temperatures can be extended beyond this range depending on humidity, air circulation, and ...

. It has a low

viscosity Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent drag (physics), resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for e ...

, low

specific gravity Relative density, also called specific gravity, is a dimensionless quantity defined as the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity for solids and liquids is nea ...

and high

API gravity The American Petroleum Institute gravity, or API gravity, is a measure of how heavy or light a petroleum liquid is compared to water: if its API gravity is greater than 10, it is lighter and floats on water; if less than 10, it is heavier and sinks ...

due to the presence of a high proportion of light

hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and Hydrophobe, hydrophobic; their odor is usually fain ...

fractions A fraction (from , "broken") represents a part of a whole or, more generally, any number of equal parts. When spoken in everyday English, a fraction describes how many parts of a certain size there are, for example, one-half, eight-fifths, thre ...

. It generally has a low wax content. Light crude oil receives a higher

price A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation expected, required, or given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, especially when the product is a service rather than a ph ...

than heavy crude oil on commodity markets because it produces a higher percentage of

gasoline Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...

and

diesel fuel Diesel fuel, also called diesel oil, heavy oil (historically) or simply diesel, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a re ...

when converted into products by an

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...

Varying standards

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 The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is a commodity futures exchange owned and operated by CME Group of Chicago. NYMEX is located at One North End Avenue in Brookfield Place in the Battery Park City section of Manhattan, New York City. ...

(NYMEX) defines light crude oil for domestic U.S. oil as having an API gravity between 37° API (840 kg/m³) and 42° API (816 kg/m³), while it defines light crude oil for non-U.S. oil as being between 32° API (865 kg/m³) and 42° API (816 kg/m³). The National Energy Board of Canada defines light crude oil as having a density less than 875.7 kg/m³ (API gravity greater than 30.1° API). The government of Alberta, the province which produces most of the oil in Canada, disagrees and defines it as oil with a density less than 850 kg/m³ (API gravity greater than 35° API) The Mexican state oil company,

Pemex Pemex (a portmanteau of Petróleos Mexicanos, which translates to ''Mexican Petroleum'' in English; ) is the Mexico, Mexican State ownership, state-owned Petroleum industry, petroleum corporation managed and operated by the government of Mexico, ...

, defines light crude oil as being between 27° API (893 kg/m³) and 38° API (835 kg/m³). This variation in definition occurred because countries such as Canada and Mexico tend to have heavier crude oils than are commonly found in the United States, whose large oil fields historically produced lighter oils than are found in many other countries. Canada also uses the SI of units to measure oil rather than American oil industry conventional units, and the base temperature for density calculations is different in Canada at than the US at , resulting in slightly different density values.

Examples of light crude oils

A wide variety of benchmark crude oils worldwide are considered to be light. The most prominent in North America is

West Texas Intermediate West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is a grade or mix of crude oil; the term is also used to refer to the spot price, the futures price, or assessed price for that oil. In colloquial usage, WTI usually refers to the WTI Crude Oil futures contract t ...

which has an API gravity of 39.6° API (827 kg/m³). It is often referred to by publications when quoting oil prices. The most commonly referenced benchmark oil from Europe is Brent Crude, which is 38.06° API (835 kg/m³). The third most commonly quoted benchmark is Dubai Crude, which is 31° API (871 kg/m³). This is considered light by Arabian standards but would not be considered light if produced in the U.S. The largest oil field in the world, Saudi Arabia's Ghawar field, produces light crude oils ranging from 33° API (860 kg/m³) to 40° API (825 kg/m³)

U.S. price

In the United States, the price of the front month light sweet crude oil

futures contract In finance, a futures contract (sometimes called futures) is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The item tr ...

, traded on the

NYMEX The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is a commodity futures exchange owned and operated by CME Group of Chicago. NYMEX is located at One North End Avenue in Brookfield Place in the Battery Park City section of Manhattan, New York City. ...

commodity exchange (symbol CL), is widely reported as a proxy for the cost of imported crude oil. These contracts have delivery dates in all 12 months of the year. From below $20 a barrel in early 2002, it rose to an intraday peak of $70.85 at the end of August 2005 in the aftermath of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

. A new intraday record high of $78.40 was set on July 14, 2006, prompted by the firing of at least six missiles by

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on July 4–5, 2006, and escalating

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violence. Subsequently, the price declined until on October 11, 2006, the price closed at $66.04. But, by August 2007, the price had reached a record high of $78.71, amid production output concerns in the North Sea and Nigeria. On November 29, 2007, the price peaked at $98.70 intraday after closing at $98.03 the previous day. The price of light crude set a new intraday high on May 21, 2008, of $133.45 and closed at $133.17. A new high was reached on July 11, 2008, as prices temporarily reached $147.27 a barrel.

Trading

Light crude oil is traded on the CME Globex, CME ClearPort, (

CME Group CME Group Inc. is an American financial services company based in Chicago that operates financial derivatives exchanges including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade, New York Mercantile Exchange, and the Commodity Exchange. ...

) and Open Outcry (New York)

futures exchange A futures exchange or futures market is a central financial exchange where people can trade standardized futures contracts defined by the exchange. Futures contracts are derivatives contracts to buy or sell specific quantities of a commodity or ...

venues and is quoted in U.S. dollars and cents per barrel. Its product symbol is "CL" and its contract size is with a minimum fluctuation of $0.01 per barrel.

Notes

{{reflist Petroleum Oil and gas markets

Varying standards

Examples of light crude oils

U.S. price

Trading

See also

Notes