Sweet crude oil
Sweet crude oil is a type of petroleum. Petroleum is considered "sweet" if it contains less than 0.5% sulfur,[1] compared to a higher level of sulfur in 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 amount of these fractions that are used to process gasoline (naphtha), kerosene, and high-quality diesel (gas oil). The term "sweet" originated because the 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 the oil to determine its quality.[2]
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[edit] Producers
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Producers of sweet crude oil include:
- Asia/Pacific:
- North America:
- The Appalachian Basin:
- Pennsylvania Grade Crude Oil
- United States
- The Appalachian Basin:
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- The Bakken Formation of[3]
- Some of the Mid-Continent Oil Field:
- Louisiana Sweet
- West Texas Intermediate (a.k.a. Texas Light Sweet)
- Europe:
- Northern Europe:
- The North Sea area:
Norway and 
United Kingdom (Brent Crude)
- The North Sea area:
- Northern Europe:
- Africa:
- South America:
[edit] Pricing
The term "price of oil", as used in the US media, generally means the cost per barrel (42 US gallons) of West Texas Intermediate Crude, to be delivered to Cushing, Oklahoma during the upcoming month. This information is available from NYMEX or from the US Energy Information Administration.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ BBC News. "Oil markets explained". July 14, 2003.
- ^ "Description of the MC 252 Crude Oil". Oil Spill Academic Task Force, State of Florida. http://oilspill.fsu.edu/images/pdfs/mc-252crude-oil-desc.pdf. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
- ^ NextBigFuture, 26 January 2008 "A Saudi Arabia of Oil"
