Key Terms |
Definition |
Bulk Terminal |
A facility used primarily for the storage and/or marketing of petroleum products which
has a total bulk storage capacity of 50,000 barrels or more and/or receives petroleum
products by tanker, barge, or pipeline.
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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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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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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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Natural Gas Processing Plant |
A facility designed to recover natural gas liquids from a stream of natural gas that
may or may not have passed through lease separators and/or field separation facilities.
These facilities control the quality of the natural gas to be marketed. Cycling plants
are classified as gas processing plants.
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OPRG |
"Oxygenated Fuels Program Reformulated Gasoline" is reformulated gasoline which is intended
for use in an oxygenated fuels program control area during an oxygenated fuels program
control period.
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Other (Conventional) |
Finished motor gasoline not included in the oxygenated or reformulated gasoline categories.
Excludes reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB)
as well as other blendstock.
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Oxygenated |
Finished motor gasoline, other than reformulated gasoline, having an oxygen content of
2.7 percent or higher by weight. Includes gasohol. Note: Oxygenated gasoline excludes
oxygenated fuels program reformulated gasoline (OPRG) and reformulated gasoline blendstock
for oxygenate blending (RBOB).
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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 Products |
Petroleum products are obtained from the processing of crude oil (including lease condensate),
natural gas, and other hydrocarbon compounds. Petroleum products include unfinished oils,
liquefied petroleum gases, pentanes plus, aviation gasoline, motor gasoline, naphtha-type jet
fuel, kerosene-type jet fuel, kerosene, distillate fuel oil, residual fuel oil, petrochemical
feedstocks, special naphthas, lubricants, waxes, petroleum coke, asphalt, road oil, still gas,
and miscellaneous products.
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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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RBOB |
"Reformulated Gasoline Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending" is a motor gasoline blending
component which, when blended with a specified type and percentage of oxygenate, meets the
definition of reformulated gasoline.
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Refinery |
An installation that manufactures finished petroleum products from crude oil, unfinished oils,
natural gas liquids, other hydrocarbons, and oxygenates.
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Reformulated |
Finished motor gasoline formulated for use in motor vehicles, the composition and properties
of which meet the requirements of the reformulated gasoline regulations promulgated by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Section 211(k) of the Clean Air Act.
This category includes oxygenated fuels program reformulated gasoline (OPRG) but excludes
reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB).
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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 D 396 and D 975 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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Stocks |
Inventories of fuel stored for future use. Stocks are reported as of the last day of the period
(e.g., week or month).
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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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