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API Gravity

API gravity is a measure of how heavy or light petroleum liquid is compared to water, with higher API gravity indicating lighter oil that floats on water. Crude oil is classified as light, medium, or heavy based on its API gravity, with light oil having an API gravity over 31.1, medium between 22.3 and 31.1, and heavy below 22.3. Oil between 40 and 45 API gravity typically commands the highest prices.

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373 views1 page

API Gravity

API gravity is a measure of how heavy or light petroleum liquid is compared to water, with higher API gravity indicating lighter oil that floats on water. Crude oil is classified as light, medium, or heavy based on its API gravity, with light oil having an API gravity over 31.1, medium between 22.3 and 31.1, and heavy below 22.3. Oil between 40 and 45 API gravity typically commands the highest prices.

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barnibar1
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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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. API gravity formulas The formula to obtain API gravity of petroleum liquids, from specific gravity (SG), is:

Conversely, the specific gravity of petroleum liquids can be derived from the API gravity value as

Thus, a heavy oil with a specific gravity of 1.0 (i.e., with the same density as pure water at 60F) would have an API gravity of:

Classifications or grades

Generally speaking, oil with an API gravity between 40 and 45 commands the highest prices. Above 45 degrees the molecular chains become shorter and less valuable to refineries.[1]
Crude oil is classified as light, medium or heavy,

according to its measured API gravity. 1. Light crude oil is defined as having an API gravity higher than 31.1 API (less than 870 kg/m3) 2. Medium oil is defined as having an API gravity between 22.3 API and 31.1 API (870 to 920 kg/m3) 3. Heavy crude oil is defined as having an API gravity below 22.3 API (920 to 1000 kg/m3) 4. Extra heavy oil is defined with API gravity below 10.0 API (greater than 1000 kg/m3) Crude oil with API gravity less than 10 API is referred to as extra heavy oil or bitumen. Bitumen derived from the oil sands deposits in the Alberta, Canada area has an API gravity of around 8 API. It is "upgraded" to an API gravity of 31 API to 33 API, and the upgraded oil is known as synthetic crude.

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