| 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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| Aviation Gasoline Blending Components |
Naphthas which will be used for blending or compounding into finished aviation gasoline
(e.g., straight-run gasoline, alkylate, reformate, benzene, toluene, and xylene).
Excludes oxygenates (alcohols, ethers), butane, and pentanes plus. Oxygenates are reported as
other hydrocarbons, hydrogen, and oxygenates.
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| Barrel |
A unit of volume equal to 42 U.S. gallons.
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| Bonded Petroleum Imports |
Petroleum imported and entered into Customs bonded storage. These imports are not included in
the import statistics until they are: (1) withdrawn from storage free of duty for use as fuel
for vessels and aircraft engaged in international trade; or (2) withdrawn from storage with duty
paid for domestic use.
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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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| Conventional Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending (CBOB) |
Motor gasoline blending components intended for blending with oxygenates to produce finished conventional
motor gasoline.
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| Conventional Gasoline |
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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| Conventional Gasoline, Ed 55 and Lower |
Finished conventional motor gasoline blended with a maximum of 55 volume percent denatured fuel ethanol.
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| Conventional Gasoline, Greater than Ed 55 |
Finished conventional motor gasoline blended with denatured fuel ethanol where the volume percent of denatured fuel ethanol exceeds 55%.
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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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| Finished Aviation Gasoline |
A complex mixture of relatively volatile hydrocarbons with or without small quantities of
additives, blended to form a fuel suitable for use in aviation reciprocating engines. Fuel
specifications are provided in ASTM Specification D 910 and Military Specification MIL-G-5572.
Note: Data on blending components are not counted in data on finished aviation gasoline.
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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. |
| Fuel Ethanol |
An anhydrous denatured aliphatic alcohol intended for gasoline blending as
described in Oxygenates definition.
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| Gasoline Treated as Blendstock (GTAB) |
Non-certified Foreign Refinery gasoline classified by an importer as blendstock to be either blended or reclassified with respect to reformulated or conventional gasoline. GTAB was classified on EIA surveys as either reformulated or conventional based on emissions performance and the intended end use in data through the end of December 2009. Designation of GTAB as reformulated or conventional was discontinued beginning with data for January 2010. GTAB was reported as a single product beginning with data for January 2010. GTAB data for January 2010 and later months is presented as conventional motor gasoline blending components whenreported as a subset of motor gasoline blending components. |
| 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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| Hydrogen |
The lightest of all gases, occurring chiefly in combination with oxygen in water; exists also
in acids, bases, alcohols, petroleum, and other hydrocarbons.
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| Imports |
Receipts of crude oil and petroleum products into the 50 States and the District of Columbia
from foreign countries, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and other U.S. possessions and territories.
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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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| Jet Fuel |
Includes Kerosene-type (Commercial or Military) and Naphtha-type.
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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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| Light Gas Oils |
Liquid petroleum distillates heavier than naphtha, with an approximate boiling range
from 401º F to 650º F
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| Liquefied Petroleum Gases (LPG) |
A group of hydrocarbon-based gases derived from crude oil refining or nautral gas fractionation. For convenience of transportation, these gases are liquefied through pressurization. Historical EIA published LPG series includes: ethane, ethylene, propane, propylene, normal butane, butylene, isobutane, and isobutylene. This may not be consistent with other definitions of LPG which only include propane, normal butane, and isobutane.
|
| 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. |
| Methanol |
Blends of methanol and gasoline-grade tertiary butyl alcohol (GTBA) such that the total
oxygen content does not exceed 3.5 percent by weight and the ratio of methanol to GTBA is
less than or equal to 1. It is also specified that this blended fuel must meet ASTM volatility
specifications (commonly referred to as the "AARCO" waiver).
Blends of up to 5.0 percent by volume methanol with a minimum of 2.5 percent by volume
cosolvent alcohols having a carbon number of 4 or less (i.e., ethanol, propanol, butanol,
and/or GTBA). The total oxygen must not exceed 3.7 percent by weight, and the blend must meet
ASTM volatility specifications as well as phase separation and alcohol purity specifications
(commonly referred to as the "DuPont" waiver).
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| 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.
|
| MTBE (Methyl tertiary butyl ether) |
An ether intended for gasoline blending as described in "Oxygenates."
|
| Naphtha |
A generic term applied to a petroleum fraction with an approximate boiling range between
122º and 400º F.
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| Naphtha Less Than 401º F |
A naphtha with a boiling range of less than 401º F that is intended for use as a petrochemical feedstock.
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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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| Natural Gas Plant Liquids |
Those hydrocarbons in natural gas that are separated as liquids at natural gas processing
plants, fractionating and cycling plants, and, in some instances, field facilities.
Lease condensate is excluded. Products obtained include ethane; liquefied petroleum
gases (propane, butanes, propane-butane mixtures, ethane-propane mixtures); isopentane;
and other small quantities of finished products, such as motor gasoline, special naphthas,
jet fuel, kerosene, and distillate fuel oil.
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| Normal Butane (C4H10) |
A normally gaseous straight chain hydrocarbon that is a colorless paraffinic gas which boils at a
temperature of 31.1 degrees Fahrenheit.
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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 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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| Other Oils Equal To or Greater Than 401º F |
Oils with a boiling range equal to or greater than 401º F that are intended for use as
a petrochemical feedstock. |
| Oxygenated Gasoline |
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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| Other Oxygenates |
Includes ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE), tertiary amyl methyl ether (TAME), tertiary
butyl alcohol (TBA), and other aliphatic alcohols and ethers intended for motor gasoline
blending (e.g., isopropyl ether (IPE) or n-propanol).
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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.
Fuel Ethanol: Blends of up to 10 percent by volume anhydrous ethanol (200 proof) (commonly referred to as the
"gasohol waiver").
Methanol: Blends of methanol and gasoline-grade tertiary butyl alcohol (GTBA) such that the total oxygen content
does not exceed 3.5 percent by weight and the ratio of methanol to GTBA is less than or equal to 1. It is also
specified that this blended fuel must meet ASTM volatility specifications (commonly referred to as the "ARCO"
waiver).
Blends of up to 5.0 percent by volume methanol with a minimum of 2.5 percent by volume cosolvent alcohols having a carbon number of 4 or less (i.e., ethanol, propanol, butanol, and/or GTBA). The total oxygen must not exceed 3.7 percent by weight, and the blend must meet ASTM volatility specifications as well as phase separation and alcohol purity specifications (commonly referred to as the "DuPont" waiver).
MTBE (Methyl tertiary butyl ether): Blends up to 15.0 percent by volume MTBE which must meet the ASTM D4814
specifications. Blenders must take precautions that the blends are not used as base gasolines for other
oxygenated blends (commonly referred to as the "Sun" waiver).
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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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| Petrochemical Feedstocks |
Chemical feedstocks derived from petroleum principally for the manufacture of chemicals,
synthetic rubber, and a variety of plastics. The categories reported are "Naphtha Less
Than 401º F" and "Other Oils Equal To or Greater Than 401º F."
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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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| 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 motor gasoline blending components
intended for blending with oxygenates to produce finished reformulated gasoline.
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| Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) |
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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| Renewable Diesel Fuel |
Diesel fuel and diesel fuel blending components produced from renewable sources that are coprocessed with
petroleum feedstocks and meet requirements of advanced biofuels.
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| Renewable Fuels (Other) |
Fuels and fuel blending components, except biomass-based diesel fuel, renewable diesel fuel, and fuel
ethanol, produced from renewable biomass.
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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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| 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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| Residuum |
Residue from crude oil after distilling off all but the heaviest components, with a boiling
range greater than 1000º F.
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| Special Naphthas |
All finished products within the naphtha boiling range that are used as paint thinners, cleaners, or solvents. These products are refined to a specified flash point. Special naphthas include all commercial hexane and cleaning solvents conforming to ASTM Specification D1836 and D484, respectively. Naphthas to be blended or marketed as motor gasoline or aviation gasoline, or that are to be used as petrochemical and synthetic natural gas (SNG) feedstocks are excluded. |
| Sulfur |
A yellowish nonmetallic element, sometimes known as "brimstone." It is present at various
levels of concentration in many fossil fuels.
|
| Unfinished Oils |
All oils requiring further processing, except those requiring only mechanical blending.
Unfinished oils are produced by partial refining of crude oil and include naphthas and
lighter oils, kerosene and light gas oils, heavy gas oils, and residuum.
|
| 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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Definitions