Before we consider what makes sweet crude oil better than sour crude oil, let us get to know what crude oil is. In this article, my focus will be on the differences between the two exact opposite oil blends.
What is Crude Oil?
Crude oil is an underground, naturally-occurring liquid comprising hydrocarbons and other organic components used for the production of gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas, jet fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, and fuel oils.
Check out our article on the usefulness of industrial as oil for further studies on petroleum products.
What then is sweet crude oil, and what makes it better than sour crude oil?
What is Sweet Crude?
Sweet Crude oil is a blend of petroleum with low sulfur, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide contents. It is preferred by refiners because it’s not only easy to process but also yields high-quality products.
Furthermore, its low sulfur content enhances higher yields of petroleum products such as petrol, diesel fuel, jet fuel, and few others.
What Are The Advantages Of Sweet Crude Oil?
Sweet crude oil has few advantages, such as low sulfur concentration, easy refining, and production of higher yields. Also, it’s refining cost is cheap and economically viable in general.
Easy Refining: With sweet crude oil, the refining processes are less cumbersome when compared to other blends. Consequently, extracts from sweet crudes require fewer treatments after distillation.
Cheap Refining Cost: Refining sweet crude oil is cost-efficient. With fewer impurities, the refining processes become less cumbersome and inexpensive. Furthermore, it costs less cash as well as human efforts to refine sweet crude.
Sweet Crude Is Less Harmful To The Environment: The sweet crude oil is environment friendly because it contains fewer
sulfur contents and releases fewer contaminants into the atmosphere during its refining process.
High Selling Price: Sweet crude attracts high demand and invariably, a higher selling price. Also, most buyers prefer their finished products because they contain fewer impurities.
Differences between Sweet and Sour Crude
In case you are curious to know the differences between sweet and sour crude, I am here to point them all out.
Sweet crude has low sulfur content, which is the basis for its sweetness. On the other hand, sour crude contains high sulfur content hence its bitter taste.
Additionally, another thing that comes to mind is the impurity content difference. It has been proven that sweet crude has fewer impurities, whereas sour crude has more impurities.
Also, the refining cost difference worth mentioning here. It is cheaper to refine sweet crude because its impurity content is low, but costs more to refine heavy and sour crude oil.
Furthermore, the refining processes for sweet and sour crude oil are different. Sweet crude requires little refining because it contains fewer impurities, whereas sour crude requires rigorous refining processes. After all, it contains too many impurities.
Above all, sweet crude oil is more friendly to the environment because it releases fewer contaminants into the air during the refining process. Conversely, sour crude is full of impurities, thus contaminates the environment.
Petroleum mainly comprises 84-87% of carbon and 11-13% hydrogen. The remaining components consist of sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen, and helium.
Sour crude oil contains more than 0.5% sulfur content and consequently produces unpleasant taste.
Top 5 Sweet Blend with Extremely Low Sulfur Content
I am sure you are curious to know if your country’s blend makes this list. The top five sweet crude oil blends are Algeria, Ormen Lange, Northwest Shelf, Sleipner, and Snohvit condensates.
On top of the list is Algeria Condensate, which has a sulfur content of about 0,004%. With an API of 68.6 and Acidity (mgKOH/g) content of 0.001, this blend deserves a spot on this list. If you are looking for an oil blend with minimum sulfur and acidic content, the Algerian Condensate is perfect for you.
The second blend on the list is Norway’s Ormen Lange Condensate. From the stable of Statoil, the Ormen Lange Condensate has 0,007% of sulfur content and 52.3° API gravity. Consequently, it’s traded at Nyhamna and has since been one of the refiners’ choice ever since its production started in 2007.
The Northwest Shelf condensate, a blend from Australia, is also low in its sulfur content. With API gravity and sulfur content of 53.1, and 0.01 respectively, the Northwest Shelf Condensate is undoubtedly a leading crude oil blend. Furthermore, it has a pour point of -36, and its yield is exceptional.
Also on the list is the Sleipner Condensate, one of Norway’s oil blends with 0.02 sulfur content, and 62 degrees gravity. Like all other sweet crude oil blends, Sleipner Condensate is easy to refine and has a higher product yield.
The fifth blend on our list is Norwegian Snohvit Condensate. It is a sweet blend from Norway with a sulfur content of about 0.02% API gravity of 60.1°. The Snohvit Condensate produces higher yields as well.
List of Sweet Crude Blend
| S/N | Country | Oil Blend |
| 1. | Australia | Cossack crude oil |
| 2. | Algeria | Sahara Blend |
| 3. | Angola | Cabinda Crude |
| 4. | Argentina | Canadon Seco |
| 5. | Azerbaijan | Azeri Light |
| 6. | Brazil | Urucu |
| 7. | Brunei | Champion Export |
| 8. | Canada | Terra Nova |
| 9. | Chad | Doba |
| 10. | China | Nanhai Light |
| 11. | Colombia | Cano Limon |
| 12. | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Djeno |
| 13. | Denmark | DUC |
| 14. | Equatorial Guinea | Alba (Equatorial Guinea) |
| 15. | Indonesia | Belanak |
| 16. | Ivory Coast | Lion Crude |
| 17. | Libya | Zuwetina |
| 18. | Louisiana (U S A) | Light Louisiana Sweet |
| 19. | Malaysia | Miri |
| 20. | Nigeria | Bonny Light |
| 21. | Norway | Åsgard Blend |
| 22. | Papua New Guinea | Kutubu Blend |
| 23. | Russia | Sokol (Sakhalin I) |
| 24. | Vietnam | Chim Sao |
| 25. | Saudi Arabia | Arab Super Light |
| 26. | United Arab Emirate | Thamama Condensate |
| 27. | United Kingdom | Brent Blend |
| 28. | United States | LA Mississippi Sweet |
| 29. | Qatar | NFC II |
| 30. | Sudan | Dar Blend |
WTI and Brent: The Two Oil Market Determinants
Although there are other crude oil blends in the market, Brent has become a reference point for traders when quoting prices. Also, it has continued to maintain a dominant price in the oil market due to a few factors. The Brent is not only light but also sweet.
On the other hand, The WTI is a sweet crude from West Texas. Also, it’s one of the most popular oil blends with a minimal sulfur content of 0.24%, thus making it refiners’ choice.
Given the above, both WTI and Brent are two dominant crude oil blends in the market. Also, they are easy to refine.