| Key Terms |
Definition |
| Asphalt |
A dark-brown-to-black cement-like material containing bitumens as the predominant constituent
obtained by petroleum processing; used primarily for road construction. It includes crude
asphalt as well as the following finished products: cements, fluxes, the asphalt content of
emulsions (exclusive of water), and petroleum distillates blended with asphalt to make
cutback asphalts. Note: The conversion factor for asphalt is 5.5 barrels per short ton.
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| Barrel |
A unit of volume equal to 42 U.S. gallons.
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| Butane (C4H10) |
A normally gaseous straight-chain or branch-chain hydrocarbon extracted from natural gas or refinery
gas streams. It includes isobutane and normal butane and is designated in ASTM Specification
D1835 and Gas Processors Association Specifications for commercial butane.
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| Butylene (C4H8) |
An olefinic hydrocarbon recovered from refinery processes.
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| Crude Oil |
A mixture of hydrocarbons that exists in liquid phase in natural underground
reservoirs and remains liquid at atmospheric pressure after passing through
surface separating facilities. Depending upon the characteristics of the crude
stream, it may also include:
Small amounts of hydrocarbons that exist in gaseous phase in natural
underground reservoirs but are liquid at atmospheric pressure after being
recovered from oil well (casinghead) gas in lease separators and are subsequently
commingled with the crude stream without being separately measured. Lease
condensate recovered as a liquid from natural gas wells in lease or field
separation facilities and later mixed into the crude stream is also included;
Small amounts of nonhydrocarbons produced with the oil, such as sulfur and
various metals;
Drip gases, and liquid hydrocarbons produced from tar sands, oil sands,
gilsonite, and oil shale.
Liquids produced at natural gas processing plants are excluded. Crude oil is refined to produce
a wide array of petroleum products, including heating oils; gasoline, diesel and jet fuels;
lubricants; asphalt; ethane, propane, and butane; and many other products used for their
energy or chemical content.
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| Distillate Fuel Oil |
A general classification for one of the petroleum fractions produced in conventional
distillation operations. It includes diesel fuels and fuel oils. Products known as No. 1,
No. 2, and No. 4 diesel fuel are used in on-highway diesel engines, such as those in trucks
and automobiles, as well as off-highway engines, such as those in railroad locomotives and
agricultural machinery. Products known as No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 fuel oils are used primarily
for space heating and electric power generation.
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| Ethane (C2H6) |
A normally gaseous straight-chain hydrocarbon. It is a colorless paraffinic gas that boils at
a temperature of -127.48º F. It is extracted from natural gas and refinery gas streams.
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| Ethylene (C2H4) |
An olefinic hydrocarbon recovered from refinery processes or petrochemical processes.
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| Exports |
Shipments of crude oil and petroleum products from the 50 States and the District of Columbia
to foreign countries, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and other U.S. possessions and territories.
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| Finished Motor Gasoline |
A complex mixture of relatively volatile hydrocarbons with or without small quantities of
additives, blended to form a fuel suitable for use in spark-ignition engines. Motor gasoline,
as defined in ASTM Specification D 4814 or Federal Specification VV-G-1690C, is characterized
as having a boiling range of 122 to 158 degrees Fahrenheit at the 10 percent recovery point to
365 to 374 degrees Fahrenheit at the 90 percent recovery point. Motor Gasoline includes
conventional gasoline; all types of oxygenated gasoline, including gasohol; and
reformulated gasoline, but excludes aviation gasoline. Note: Volumetric data on blending
components, such as oxygenates, are not counted in data on finished motor gasoline until
the blending components are blended into the gasoline. Finished motor gasoline includes
all ethanol blended gasoline (e.g. E10, E85).
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| Hydrocarbon |
An organic chemical compound of hydrogen and carbon in the gaseous, liquid, or solid phase.
The molecular structure of hydrocarbon compounds varies from the simplest (methane, a
constituent of natural gas) to the very heavy and very complex.
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| Isobutane (C4H10) |
A normally gaseous branch-chain hydrocarbon. It is a colorless paraffinic gas that boils at a
temperature of 10.9º F. It is extracted from natural gas or refinery gas streams.
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| Isobutylene (C4H8) |
An olefinic hydrocarbon recovered from refinery processes or petrochemical processes.
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| Kerosene |
A light petroleum distillate that is used in space heaters, cook stoves, and water heaters
and is suitable for use as a light source when burned in wick-fed lamps. Kerosene has a
maximum distillation temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit at the 10-percent recovery point,
a final boiling point of 572 degrees Fahrenheit, and a minimum flash point of 100 degrees
Fahrenheit. Included are No. 1-K and No. 2-K, the two grades recognized by ASTM Specification
D 3699 as well as all other grades of kerosene called range or stove oil, which have properties
similar to those of No. 1 fuel oil. See Kerosene-Type Jet Fuel.
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| Kerosene-Type Jet Fuel |
A kerosene-based product having a maximum distillation temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit at
the 10-percent recovery point and a final maximum boiling point of 572 degrees Fahrenheit
and meeting ASTM Specification D 1655 and Military Specifications MIL-T-5624P and MIL-T-83133D
(Grades JP-5 and JP-8). It is used for commercial
and military turbojet and turboprop aircraft engines.
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| Liquefied Petroleum Gases (LPG) |
A group of hydrocarbon-based gases derived from crude oil refining or nautral gas fractionation.
They include: ethane, ethylene, propane, propylene, normal butane, butylene, isobutane, and
isobutylene. For convenience of transportation, these gases are liquefied through pressurization.
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| Lubricants |
Substances used to reduce friction between bearing surfaces or as process materials
either incorporated into other materials used as processing aids in the manufacture of
other products, or used as carriers of other materials. Petroleum lubricants may be produced
either from distillates or residues. Lubricants include all grades of lubricating oils from
spindle oil to cylinder oil and those used in greases. |
| Miscellaneous Products |
Includes all finished products not classified elsewhere (e.g., petrolatum, lube refining
byproducts (aromatic extracts and tars), absorption oils, ram-jet fuel, petroleum rocket
fuels, synthetic natural gas feedstocks, and specialty oils).
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| Motor Gasoline Blending Components |
Naphthas (e.g., straight-run gasoline, alkylate, reformate, benzene, toluene, xylene) used for
blending or compounding into finished motor gasoline. These components include reformulated
gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) but exclude oxygenates (alcohols, ethers),
butane, and pentanes plus. Note: Oxygenates are reported as individual components and are
included in the total for other hydrocarbons, hydrogens, and oxygenates.
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| Naphtha-Type Jet Fuel |
A fuel in the heavy naphtha boiling range having an average gravity of 52.8 degrees API,
20 to 90 percent distillation temperatures of 290 degrees to 470 degrees Fahrenheit, and
meeting Military Specification MIL-T-5624L (Grade JP-4). It is used primarily for
military turbojet and turboprop aircraft engines because it has a lower freeze point
than other aviation fuels and meets engine requirements at high altitudes and speeds.
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| Natural Gas Liquids |
Those hydrocarbons in natural gas that are separated from the gas as liquids through the process
of absorption, condensation, adsorption, or other methods in gas processing or cycling plants.
Generally such liquids consist of propane and heavier hydrocarbons and are commonly referred
to as lease condensate, natural gasoline, and liquefied petroleum gases. Natural gas liquids
include natural gas plant liquids (primarily ethane, propane, butane, and isobutane;
see Natural Gas Plant Liquids) and lease condensate (primarily pentanes produced from
natural gas at lease separators and field facilities; see Lease Condensate).
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| Normal Butane (C4H10) |
A normally gaseous straight-chain hydrocarbon. It is a colorless paraffinic gas that boils
at a temperature of 31.1º F. It is extracted from natural gas or refinery gas streams.
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| Other Hydrocarbons |
Materials received by a refinery and consumed as a raw material. Includes hydrogen, coal tar
derivatives, gilsonite, and natural gas received by the refinery for reforming into hydrogen.
Natural gas to be used as fuel is excluded.
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| Oxygenates |
Substances which, when added to gasoline, increase the amount of oxygen in that gasoline blend.
Ethanol, Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE), Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (ETBE), and methanol
are common oxygenates.
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| Pentanes Plus |
A mixture of hydrocarbons, mostly pentanes and heavier, extracted from natural gas.
Includes isopentane, natural gasoline, and plant condensate.
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| Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) Districts |
Geographic aggregations of the 50 States and the District of Columbia into five districts
by the Petroleum Administration for Defense in 1950. These districts were originally defined
during World War II for purposes of administering oil allocation.
Description and maps of PAD Districts and Refining Districts.
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| Petroleum Coke |
A residue high in carbon content and low in hydrogen that is the final product of
thermal decomposition in the condensation process in cracking. This product is reported
as marketable coke or catalyst coke. The conversion is 5 barrels
(of 42 U.S. gallons each) per short ton. Coke from petroleum has a heating value of
6.024 million Btu per barrel.
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| Propane (C3H8) |
A normally gaseous straight-chain hydrocarbon. It is a colorless paraffinic gas that boils
at a temperature of -43.67o F. It is extracted from natural gas or refinery gas streams.
It includes all products designated in ASTM Specification D1835 and Gas Processors Association
Specifications for commercial propane and HD-5 propane.
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| Propylene (C3H6) |
An olefinic hydrocarbon recovered from refinery processes or petrochemical processes.
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| Residual Fuel Oil |
A general classification for the heavier oils, known as No. 5 and No. 6 fuel oils, that remain
after the distillate fuel oils and lighter hydrocarbons are distilled away in refinery operations.
It conforms to ASTM Specifications D396 and D975 and Federal Specification VV-F-815C.
No. 5, a residual fuel oil of medium viscosity, is also known as Navy Special and is defined in
Military Specification MIL-F-859E, including Amendment 2 (NATO Symbol F-770). It is used in
steam-powered vessels in government service and inshore powerplants. No. 6 fuel oil includes
Bunker C fuel oil and is used for the production of electric power, space heating, vessel
bunkering, and various industrial purposes.
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| Road Oil |
Any heavy petroleum oil, including residual asphaltic oil used as a dust pallative and surface
treatment on roads and highways. It is generally produced in six grades from 0, the most liquid,
to 5, the most viscous.
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| Special Naphthas |
Oils with a boiling range equal to or greater than 401º F that are intended for use as
a petrochemical feedstock. |
| Sulfur |
A yellowish nonmetallic element, sometimes known as "brimstone." It is present at various
levels of concentration in many fossil fuels.
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| Wax |
A solid or semi-solid material at 77 degrees Fahrenheit consisting of a mixture of
hydrocarbons obtained or derived from petroleum fractions, or through a Fischer-Tropsch
type process, in which the straight-chained paraffin series predominates. This
includes all marketable wax, whether crude or refined, with a congealing point
(ASTM D 938) between 80 (or 85) and 240 degrees Fahrenheit and a maximum oil content
(ASTM D 3235) of 50 weight percent.
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