As anyone who has ever bought a used car knows, appearances can be deceiving. Two vehicles may look nearly identical from the outside, but what’s under the hood can make all the difference in performance, reliability and value. The same principle applies to crude oil, as barrels that meet the same basic specifications can still behave very differently once they reach a refinery. In today’s RBN blog, we conclude our look at crude quality by examining why maintaining consistent specifications has become more challenging as Permian production has grown, blending practices have evolved, and WTI Midland has become a cornerstone of global crude pricing.
To truly understand Cushing — what it does and how it works — you need to know the hub’s assets and how they fit together. RBN’s Cushing Crude Oil Playbook provides the first one-stop, comprehensive guide to the hub’s assets.
As discussed in Part 1, crude oil is not a uniform commodity; each stream has a unique chemical composition that affects its value and how it performs throughout the supply chain. The two primary measures of crude quality are API gravity (density) and sulfur content. In general, crude oils above about 35 degrees (°) API are considered light (blue-shaded rows in Figure 1 below); those between roughly 25° and 35° API fall into the medium category (pink-shaded rows); and anything lower than 25° is heavy (green-shaded rows). Sweet crude has relatively little sulfur, typically less than about 0.5%, while sour crude contains more than that. Light, sweet crudes generally produce higher yields of valuable products like gasoline, diesel and jet fuel with less refining, while heavier or more sulfur-rich crudes require additional processing and involve higher costs. Other quality factors — including distillation characteristics, molecular composition, carbon residue, acidity, metals and mercaptans — also influence refinery efficiency, equipment reliability, catalyst performance and overall market value.
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About the song
“A Matter of Trust” was written by Billy Joel and appears as the third song on side one of his 10th studio album, The Bridge. Released as the second single from the album in July 1986, "A Matter of Trust" went to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. Personnel on the record were: Billy Joel (lead, backing vocals, guitar, acoustic piano, synthesizer); David Brown and Russell Javors (guitar); Doug Stegmeyer (bass), Liberty DeVito (drums), and Jeff Bova (synthesizer).
The Bridge was recorded in 1985-86 at The Power Station, Chelsea Sound, and RCA Studios in New York City and Evergreen Studios in Burbank, CA. Produced by Phil Ramone, the album was released in July 1986. It went to #7 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, and has been certified 2X Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Four singles were released from the LP.
Billy Joel is an American singer, songwriter, and musician from New York who has sold over 150 million records worldwide. He started his career as a member of The Hassles, who made two albums for United Artists in 1967 and 1969. Joel then formed the keyboard and drum duo, Attila, who released one album for Epic in 1970. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of All Music wrote: "Attila undoubtedly is the worst album released in the history of rock and roll." Joel himself has called the album "psychedelic B.S." He started his solo career in 1971, with the release of his debut album, Cold Spring Harbor. Billy Joel has released 13 studio albums, six live albums, 16 compilation albums, and 61 singles. He has won five Grammy Awards, is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and has been awarded a Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress and a Kennedy Center Honor. He continues to write music and occasionally perform live.
