Glossary
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API gravity
The API gravity illustrates the density of crude oil classified by the American Petroleum Institute. The API gravity is defined as 141.5 - 131.5/ Gravity of specific crude oil at 15.6 C. Thus, the higher the API gravity is, the lighter is the crude oil.
Aromatics
Hydrocarbons characterized by having at least one benzene ring and known as aromatics because of their distinctive, sweet odor. Common aromatics include toluene and xylene.
Atmospheric or primary distillation (or topping)
The first step in the refining process in which crude oil is heated and separated into various intermediate products, each having a different boiling point.
Atmospheric crude distillation capacity
A maximum amount of feedstock that the atmospheric crude distillation units of a refinery are able to process.
Aviation fuels
Jet fuels and aviation gasolines.
Barrel or bbl
Barrel of crude oil, 159 liters by volume.
Biodiesel
Diesel fuel that contains components derived from renewable raw materials, such as vegetable oils and animal fat.
Biofuel
Gasoline or diesel fuel that contains components derived from plants, such as sugar cane, sugar beet, rapeseed and soya.
Bitumen
The low valve residual product of crude oil vacuum distillation, which is primarily used for asphalt coating of roads and roofing materials.
Bpd
Barrels per day.
Brent
A light North Sea crude oil with approximately 38° API and a sulfur content of 0.4%.
topCatalytic conversion
A chemical transformation obtained through the use of a catalytic agent.
c.i.f.
Cost, insurance and freight. A delivery term that includes the costs as well as freight and insurance charges of the delivery of goods to a named destination as defined in the ICC Incoterms 2000.
CO2
Carbon dioxide, a significant greenhouse gas.
Complexity
A key industry measure referring to an oil refinery’s ability to process feedstocks, such as heavier and higher sulfur content crude oils, into value added products. Generally, the higher the complexity and more flexible the feedstock slate, the better positioned the refinery is to take advantage of the more cost effective crude oils, resulting in incremental gross margin opportunities for the refinery.
Condensates
Natural gas liquids used as feedstocks in oil refining.
Contango
A market situation in which prices in succeeding delivery months are progressively higher than in the nearest delivery months.
Cracking
The conversion of large hydrocarbon molecules into smaller ones. Cracking is carried out either at high temperatures (thermal cracking), or with the aid of a catalyst and high pressure (catalytic cracking and hydrocracking). The cracking process enables greater quantities of saturated hydrocarbons suitable for gasoline and other light fractions to be recovered from crude oil.
Crack Spread
A proxy, or a benchmark, for refining margins and refer to the margin that would accrue from the simultaneous purchase of crude oil and the sale of refined petroleum products, in each case at the then prevailing price.
Dated Brent
The price for prompt shipments of Brent crude as reported by price agencies. It is the price benchmark for the vast majority of crude oils sold in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and one of the most important benchmarks for spot market prices.
Desulfurization or Hydrotreating
A process to remove sulfur from petroleum products.
Distillates
Any of wide range petroleum products produced by distillation, the primary refining step in which crude oil is separated into fractions or components. These commonly include diesel, heating oil and jet kerosene but exclude gasoline naphthas.
ETBE
Ethyl tertiary butyl ether, a high octane ethanol based gasoline component reducing the overall environmental impact of gasoline.
Etherification
Chemical process to obtain an ether (organic compounds).
European Union 25
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom
Extra sweet crude oils
Crude oils with a sulfur content of less than 0.2% by weight.
Feedstocks
Crude oil and other hydrocarbons used as basic materials in a refining or manufacturing process.
Fluid catalytic cracking or FCC
The refining process of breaking down the larger, heavier, and more complex hydrocarbon molecules into simpler and lighter molecules. Fluid catalytic cracking is accomplished by the use of a catalytic agent, which is continuously regenerated and is an effective process for increasing the yield of gasoline from crude oil. Catalytic cracking processes fresh feedstocks as well as recycled feedstocks.
f.o.b.
Free on board. A delivery term denoting that the seller is responsible for delivery goods on board a ship or other conveyance for carriage to the consignee at a specified loading port as defined in the ICC Incoterms 2000.
Gasoil
A liquid petroleum product with a boiling range temperature of 200° 370°C and an ignition temperature over 55°C that is typically used as a fuel for boilers, furnaces and internal combustion engines. The type of gasoil suitable for use in oil fired heating plants and boilers is called heating oil, while the type suitable for internal combustion engines is called diesel.
Gasoline
A light liquid petroleum product that is typically used as a fuel for internal combustion engines.
GWh
Gigawatt hour, which equals 1,000 megawatt hours or one million kilowatt hours.
Heating oil
A gasoil with properties that generally make it suitable only as a fuel for oil fired heating plants and boilers.
Heavy fuel oil
Fuel oil with a distillation range of over 350°C. Heavy fuel oil is used in heat plants, power stations and industrial furnaces.
Heavy residue hydrocracking unit
A hydrocracking unit of an oil refinery that converts vacuum residue (i.e., short residue) into transportation fuels.
Hectare
10,000 square meters.
Hydrocracking
The conversion and desulfurization process (typically of vacuum gasoil) into lighter products such as diesel that takes place at high pressure and temperature in the presence of hydrogen and a fixed catalyst.
ICC Incoterms 2000
Standardized delivery terms for goods issued by the International Chamber of Commerce, which allocate the costs and liabilities of deliveries between sellers and purchasers of goods.
ISO
The International Organization for Standardization.
ISO 9001
An international standard established by the ISO to certify quality management systems.
ISO 14001
An international standard established by the ISO to certify environmental management systems.
LPG
Liquefied petroleum gas. A gas mixture used for fuel purposes, containing propane, propene, butane, or butene as its main components, that has been liquefied to enable it to be transported and stored under pressure.
Lubricants
Fluids used to reduce friction and wear between solid surfaces (typically metals) in relative motion. Lubricants are generally derived from petroleum.
Mild hydrocracking or MHC
The hydrocracking process that takes place at lower pressures.
MTBE
Methyl tertiary butyl ether, a high octane component, and oxygenate, used in the production of low emission gasoline.
Naphtha
A liquid petroleum product that is typically used as a feedstock for other petrochemical processes, generally in a reformer, producing high octane gasoline and hydrogen or other petrochemical products. Naphtha is also used as a chemical feedstock.
Natural gas
Any hydrocarbons or mixture of hydrocarbons and other gases consisting primarily of methane which at normal operating conditions is in a gaseous state.
Netback
Sales price less all per unit costs.
NOx
Nitrogen oxides, which are compounds that are produced in the combustion process and contribute to ground level air pollution such as smog.
OECD
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
OHSAS 18001
International standards used to certify occupational health and safety management systems.
Petrochemicals
Many products derived from crude oil refining, such as ethylene, propylene, butylenes and isobutylene, primarily intended for use as petrochemical feedstock in the production of plastics, synthetic fibers, synthetic rubbers and other products. A variety of products are produced for use as solvents, including benzene, toluene and xylene.
ppm
Parts per million.
Refinery
A facility used to process crude oil. The basic process unit in a refinery is a crude oil distillation unit, which splits crude oil into various fractions through a process of heating and condensing. Simple, or hydroskimming, refineries normally have crude oil distillation, catalytic reforming, and hydrotreating units. The demand for lighter petroleum products, such as motor gasoline and diesel fuel, has increased the need for more sophisticated processing. Complex refineries have vacuum distillation, catalytic cracking, or hydrocracking units. Cracking units process vacuum oil into gasoline, gasoil, and heavy fuel oil.
Refining margin
The difference, for any particular quantity of crude oil, between the value of all the refined petroleum products a refinery is able to produce from such crude oil minus the cost of the crude oil (including associated costs such as transport, insurance, etc.).
Reformulated Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending or RBOB
Specially produced reformulated gasoline blendstock intended for blending with oxygenates downstream of the refinery where it was produced. Includes RBOB used to meet requirements of the U.S. reformulated gasoline program.
Reformulated gasoline
An advanced type of motor gasoline formulated to produce lower environmental emissions than conventional gasolines.
SO2
Sulfur dioxide, the combustion product of sulfur, which is formed from the use of fuels containing sulfur.
Solvent
A liquid that is used for diluting or thinning a solution. A liquid that absorbs another liquid, gas, or solid in order to form a homogeneous mixture.
Sour crude oils
Crude oils with a sulfur content higher than 1.0% by weight.
Spot market
A term used to describe the international trade in one off cargoes or shipments of commodities, such as crude oil, in which prices closely follow demand and availability.
Sulfur free fuel
Fuel with a sulfur content less than 10 mg/kg (ppm).
Sweet crude oils
Crude oils with a sulfur content between 0.2% and 1.0% by weight.
Tar
The heaviest fraction of crude oil after it has been subjected to a visbreaking process.
Thermal conversion
A chemical transformation resulting from an increase in temperature.
Ton
One ton represents 1,000 kilograms or approximately 2,205 pounds.
Vacuum distillation
A process that follows atmospheric distillation (when the latter is no longer feasible because of the high temperatures) that takes place in vacuum conditions, made to obtain vacuum gasoil and a heavy vacuum residues.
Vacuum gasoil or VGO
Also known as cat feed. Feedstock for fluid catalytic cracker used to make gasoline, No.2 oil and other byproducts.
Visbreaking
A process by which the heavy intermediates oils derived from the two serial crude distillation process (primary and vacuum distillation) are subjected to thermal conversion.
