Sweet crude oil is a type of petroleum with low sulfur content, producing high amounts of naphtha and fuel oil during refining. It is easier to pump and transport than heavy crude, making it more desirable. It is found in many places worldwide, including the US, North Africa, and the North Sea.
Crude oil is a liquid mixture of hydrocarbons and various other chemical compounds. This mixture of hydrocarbons is also commonly known as petroleum, and is called sweet when it has a low sulfur content. Petroleum can have a wide variety of different physical compositions, but the lack of sulfur gives it a somewhat sweet taste. This type of oil is typically used to make gasoline and diesel, as it tends to produce high amounts of naphtha and fuel oil during refining. Sweet crude oil comes from many different places around the world, including the United States, the North Sea, and North Africa.
There are two main factors typically used to differentiate one type of crude oil from another. The first is whether it is heavy or light and refers to the specific gravity of the oil. Lighter oil is easier to pump out of the ground and easier to transport, so it typically costs more money to bring heavy crude to market. The other descriptor is based on the sulfur content of the crude oil, and oil that has more than 0.5% sulfur content is usually referred to as acidic. Sweet crude has a sulfur content of less than 0.5% and typically also has a pleasant odor and sweet taste.
Sweet crude oil is generally considered more desirable than sour crude oil, largely due to the chemical composition traditionally associated with this type of oil. Sweet crude typically contains large quantities of hydrocarbons needed for the production of gasoline and diesel. This means that fractional distillation of sweet crude tends to produce higher amounts of naphtha, fuel oil, and kerosene than is normally recovered from sour crude. Naphtha is a raw material that can be used to make high-octane gasoline, while diesel is just one of many types of fuel oil.
Many different areas around the world produce sweet crude oil. The United States extracts light, sweet crude from areas such as West Texas, Louisiana and the Appalachians, and South America has reserves in the Guyana-Suriname Basin and elsewhere. Some of the largest reserves of sweet crude in the world are found in northern Africa, particularly in Libya. The North Sea between the UK and mainland Europe also contains many wells that tap sweet crude. A number of other areas around the world also have sweet crude oil reserves, including the Indian subcontinent, several other Asian countries, and even areas in Oceania such as Australia and New Zealand.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
