Components of crude oil

The Components of Crude Oil

Crude oil is essentially a mixture of many different hydrocarbons, all of varying lengths and complexities. In order to separate the individual components that make up the raw natural resource, the crude oil must be fractionally distilled so that chemical components can be removed one at a time according to their boiling points.

a) Light Distillates:
i) Naphtha - Made into gasoline/petrochemicals
ii) Methane Pentane

b) Middle distillates
i) Light gas oil - made into jet/diesel furnace fuels
ii) Heavy gas oil - further processing to produce naphtha and other products. The components of crude oil are petrol, tar, oil, dissolved gases and kerosene also known as petroleum.

c) Residue
Further processed into refinery fuels, heavy fuel oil, waxes, greases, asphalts [the lighter the stuff the higher the price]