World’s Most Important Crude Oil Grades

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Crude oil is vital to the functioning of modern economies. It has been instrumental in shaping our world in the past century, and continues to exert its influence on every aspect of our lives— either directly or indirectly. It is important to know that not all oil are created equal. Based on the origins and needs of the market, crude oil comes in different grades based on their sulfur content and API gravity. Based on sulfur content, they are classified as sweet (< 0.6%) or sour (>0.6%). Based on API gravity they are classified as heavy (<24°), medium (24° to 33°) and light (>33°). Likewise, there are six main varieties of crude oil: heavy sour, medium sour, light sour, heavy sweet, medium sweet and light sweet. The heavy sour grades need complex refining processes to eliminate impurities, whereas the light sweet grades need simpler refining processes. The crude oil spreads between different grades are used to track their relative levels of importance (based on whether they trade at a premium or discount to benchmark prices). Thus, heavy sour grades trade at a discount to Platts Dated Brent whereas the light sweet grades trade at a premium. Here are some of the most important crude grades in the world (in terms of quantity produced per day) and their key facts.

1. Arab Light (5.5 million barrels/day): It is the world’s largest crude grade which is produced by the state-owned Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia. Its name is misleading since it is classified as a medium sour grade. Its sulfur content is 1.96% and the API gravity is 33.3°. Just like all crude grades produced in the Middle East, its majority buyers (65%) are located in the Asia-Pacific region. Other main buyers are located in Europe (15%) and North America (10%).
2. Urals (3.1 million barrels/day): It is produced in Russia which is the world’s third largest crude oil producer. Its main buyer is Europe, but it is also used by growing number of refiners in Asia. It is a medium sour grade with a sulfur content of 1.25% and API gravity 31.3°.
3. Basrah Light (3 million barrels/day): It is a medium sour grade and it is produced in Iraq. Its sulfur content is 3.16% and API gravity is 28.8°. Its main loading point is the strategically critical Al Basrah Oil Terminal.
4. Kuwait Export Crude (2.6 million barrels/day): It is a medium sour grade which is produced in Kuwait. Its sulfur content is 2.52% and API gravity is 31°.
5. Arab Heavy (1.9 million barrels/day): It is another key crude grade produced by Saudi Aramco, and can be classified as a medium sour grade. Its sulfur content is 2.7% and API gravity is 27.8°.
6. Iranian Light (1.8 million barrels/day): It is a major crude grade of Iran which is classified as a medium sour grade. Its sulfur content is 1.46% and API gravity is 33.6°. However, the sanctions imposed on Iran has restricted its supply.
7. Permian 44 (1.7 million barrels/day): It is a light sweet grade produced in the Permian Basin of the USA. It has a very low sulfur content of 0.05% and an API gravity of 44°. It is one of the largest light-sweet crude grades produced in the world. Its main buyers are located in North America (70%), Europe (15%) and Asia-Pacific (15%).
8. West Canadian Select (1.6 million barrels/day): It is a heavy sour grade produced in Canada, and has a high sulfur content of 3.59%. Its API gravity is 20.9°. It is emerging to become a benchmark grade for heavy and high TAN (acidic) crudes.
9. CPC Blend (1.4 million barrels/day): It is a light sweet crude produced in the Tengiz oil field in Kazhakhstan. It has low-sulfur content of 0.54% and API gravity of 48.2°. Its largest buyers are Europe (40%) and Asia-Pacific (38%).
10. Arab Medium (1.2 million barrels/day): It is a medium sour grade produced by Saudi Aramco. It has a sulfur content of 2.54% and API gravity of 30.9°.

Most important grades and buyers by region

1. Europe: Majority of the oil produced in the Europe (76%) is for local consumption. Only 26% of it is supplied to Asia-Pacific. The majority of these crude grades are light sweet and the main producing regions are United Kingdom (~1.4 mbpd) and Norway (~1.7 mbpd). The main crude grades of this region are Forties (light sweet | 450,000 bpd | UK), Ekofisk (light sweet | 192,000 bpd | Norway), Oseberg (light sweet | 150,000 bpd | Norway) and Asgard blend (light sweet | 130,000 bpd | Norway).
2. Africa: From Africa, almost 45% of crude oil is supplied to Asia-Pacific region, 40% is supplied to Europe and 10% to North America. African crude oils are largely sweet. The main African crude varieties are Saharan Blend (light sweet | 956,000 bpd | Algeria), Qua Iboe (light sweet | 300,000 bpd | Nigeria), Djeno (medium sweet | 280,000 bpd | Republic of Congo) and El Shahara (light sweet | 250,000 bpd| Libya).
3. Russia/Central Asia: Russia is world’s third largest producer of crude oil, and there are plenty of reserves in the surrounding regions of Central Asia. 20% of the oil produced here is used for its own consumption. 48% of its oil is supplied to Europe and another 38% of it is supplied to the Asia-Pacific region. The main crude varieties of this region are the Urals (medium sweet | 3,151,000 bpd | Russia), CPC (light sweet | 1,400,000 | Kazhakhstan), East Siberia ESPO (light sweet | 920,000 | Russia), Siberian Light (light sweet | 664,000 bpd | Russia), Azeri Light (light sweet | 650,000 bpd | Azerbaijan) and Dragon (medium sweet | 160,000 bpd | Turkmenistan).
4. Asia Pacific: Although Asia-Pacific is one of the largest consumers of crude, there are some vast oil and gas reserves particularly in the South East Asian region — which is one of the reason why the Strait of Malacca is a major oil trade chokepoint of the world. The majority of crude oil produced in Asia is located in China, Australia and Indonesia, but they are not enough to satiate the extraordinary demand in this region. The major crude grades of this region are Daqing (medium sweet | 677,000 bpd | China), Bach Ho (light sweet | 247,000 bpd | Vietnam), Seria (light sweet | 50,000 bpd | Brunei) and North West Shelf Condensate (light sweet | 161,000 bpd | Australia).
5. Middle East: The Middle East region is composed of many major suppliers of the world’s crude oil, and almost all of them are members of the OPEC. It is a region which can still wield considerable influence over the global oil and gas markets, and hosts some critical infrastructure of global oil production and processing. Saudi Arabia produces three main varieties namely Arab Light (5.5 mbpd), Arab Heavy (2 mbpd) and Arab Medium (1.2 mbpd), and all of them are medium sour. Iraq produces two main varieties namely the medium sour Basrah Light (3 mbpd) and heavy sour Basrah Heavy (840,000 bpd). Apart from them, Kuwait’s medium sour Kuwait Export Crude (2.6 mbpd), Iran’s medium sour Iranian Light (1.9 mbpd), UAE’s light sour Murban (1.5 mbpd), Oman’s medium sour grade named after it as Oman (870,000 bpd) and Qatar’s light sweet Qatari Deodorized Field Condensate (869,000 bpd) are some of the other main crude grades produced in the region.
6. North America: The North American region consists of the United States and Canada. It is has the world’s largest oil production after the US shale oil revolution in the past two decades. However, it is also the world’s largest oil consumer, and a significant amount of oil produced in this region is used for its own consumption. The US light sweet Permian 44 (1.6 mbpd), the Canadian heavy sour West Canadian Select (1.6 mbpd), the US light sweet Bakken (1.2 mbpd) and the US light sweet Permian 35 (1 mbpd) are some of the important crude grades produced in this region. The US light sweet West Texas Intermediate (515,000 bpd) is a major benchmark for the global crude oil markets, and it deserves a special mention.
7. Latin America/Carribean: There are vast reserves of crude oil found in this region, and they have established their markets in Asia and the US. Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia and Ecuador are some of the most important crude oil producers in this region. The heavy sour Maya (1 mbpd)of Mexico, the heavy sweet Vasconia (392,000 bpd) of Colombia, the Venezuelan heavy sour grades (~500,000 bpd), the heavy sour Oriente (268,000 bpd) of Ecuador and the medium sour Medanito (180,000 bpd) of Argentina are some of the important crude grades that are produced in this region.

Note: The data presented above were obtained from Platt’s Crude Oil Periodic Table.