The TRU Market Potential Defined

Petroleum is the general term for solid, liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons are a class of organic compounds consisting only of carbon and hydrogen and which are the basis of oil, natural gas and coal.

Crude oil is naturally occurring petroleum.

Technically, crude oil consists of pentanes (hydrocarbon chains consisting of five carbon atoms and 12 hydrogen atoms) and heavier hydrocarbons (hydrocarbon chains longer than five carbon atoms in the formula). It may also contain other materials such as water, natural gas, sulphur and other minerals.

Figure 1 - Heavy vs. Light Oil

Conventional crude oil is oil that flows naturally or that can be pumped without being heated or diluted. Crude oil is commonly classified as light, medium or heavy, referring to its gravity as measured on the American Petroleum Institute (API) Scale.

Light crude oil is defined as having an API gravity higher than 31.1°, medium oil as having an API gravity between 22.3° and 31.1°, and heavy oil as having an API gravity below 22.3°. Conventional heavy oil from the Lloydminster, Alberta area has an API gravity ranging from 9° to 18°.

Oil that does not flow, or cannot be pumped without being heated or diluted is called bitumen. It generally has an API gravity of less than 10°. The bitumen mined from the oil sands deposits in the Athabasca area (Ft. McMurray etc.,) has an API gravity of around 8°, but is upgraded to an API gravity of 31° to 33°. This upgraded oil is known as synthetic oil.

Oilsands are mixtures of sand, water, clay and crude bitumen. Each oilsand grain has three layers: an ‘envelope’ of water surrounding a grain of sand, and a film of bitumen surrounding the water. (see diagram)

Figure 2 - Composition of Oilsands

Oil containing sulphur compounds, especially hydrogen sulphide, is known as sour oil.