What are the major types of crude oil?
Crude oil is classified as sweet and sour, depending upon its sulphur content. Sweet crude has less than 0.5 per cent sulphur content whereas sour crude has more than 0.5 per cent. Sour crude oils are cheaper than the sweeter variety. They are more complex and expensive to refine. Some of the well-known varieties of crude oil are Brent (sweet), Dubai (sour), Nigerian Bonny Light (sweet), West Texas Intermediate (sweet), Urals (CIS) (sour) and Suez Blend (sour). What does India import? India largely imports the sour variety. The overall basket is much cheaper than Brent. Environmental standards in India permit higher sulphur content in petrol and diesel. What are the price differences between major varieties of crude oil? The average price of Brent per barrel in October was $50, of Dubai crude was $38. How much crude oil does the world produce? Approximately 72 million barrels per day. (7.33 barrels make one tonne.) How much crude oil does India produce and import? India extracts approx
