What are the physical properties of crude oil?

The most common physical properties used to describe petroleum are density, viscosity, and boiling point ranges. The density of crude oils is usually expressed as API (American Petroleum Institute) gravity, which is inversely related to specific density.

What type of oil is in the Bakken?

Bakken oil, or Bakken crude, is also known as “North Dakota Sweet,” or “North Dakota Light” crude oil, due to its low sulfur content. In this respect, it is similar to traditional crude oil from West Texas, known as West Texas intermediate crude.

What are the 2 main characteristics of crude oil?

The market value of an individual crude stream reflects its quality characteristics. Two of the most important quality characteristics are density and sulfur content. Density ranges from light to heavy, while sulfur content is characterized as sweet or sour.

What physical property is used by the petroleum industry to separate the different parts of crude oil?

The substances in crude oil have different boiling points, so they can be separated by fractional distillation. The crude oil is heated to about 600 °C, and its vapours are allowed to condense at different temperatures in the fractionating column.

How do the physical and chemical properties?

A physical property is a characteristic of a substance that can be observed or measured without changing the identity of the substance. Physical properties include color, density, hardness, and melting and boiling points. A chemical property describes the ability of a substance to undergo a specific chemical change.

How thick is the Bakken Formation?

about 150 ft.
The total layer of sediments in the basin can be up to 15,000 ft thick, and within that, the Bakken itself reaches a maximum thickness of about 150 ft., but is thinner in most areas.

Why is it called the Bakken oil field?

It is named after Henry O. Bakken (1901-1982), a farmer in Tioga, North Dakota, who owned the land where the formation was initially discovered while drilling for oil.

What is petroleum physical and chemical properties?

Petroleum consists basically of compounds of only two elements, carbon and hydrogen. Because these elements combine in a large variety of complex ways, however, crude oils vary greatly in their chemical composition. Their physical properties such as color, specific gravity, and viscosity also vary widely.

What are the three grades of crude oil?

But not all crudes are alike. There are three primary qualities that differentiate one oil from another: Weight, Sweetness, and TAN count.

What are the physical and chemical properties of oil?

Crude oil is a mixture of comparatively volatile liquid hydrocarbons (compounds composed mainly of hydrogen and carbon), though it also contains some nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen. Those elements form a large variety of complex molecular structures, some of which cannot be readily identified.