Due to heterogeneity of oil raw materials and to facilitate exports, oil was divided into standard grades. The main indices of division by grades are density and sulfur content. The lower they are, the more expensive the price of a barrel.

For Europe and Asia, the main grade is Brent – oil produced in the Northern and Norwegian Seas; For the West, the standard is WTI, produced in the south-west of the United States, and for the Middle East – the grade Dubai Crude from the UAE.

Russian oil is exported under the brands Urals and Siberian Lights, its cost is determined with a discount to the standard Brent; The cost of oil from Russia is lower, because it contains less light fractions and more sulfur. Therefore, processing requires additional costs for purification.

With the development of new oil production sites, new grades appear. For example, the Russian grade VSTO (ESPO “Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean”), as well as grades Vityaz and Sokol, produced on the island of Sakhalin.

Oil barrel

Measuring wholesale oil is more convenient in barrels. 1 barrel is equal to 42 gallons or 159 liters. Back in the 18th century, a 42-gallon wooden barrel became the standard container for transporting most of the goods: wine, oil, fish, fat, etc. Such a barrel, filled with oil, could be lifted by one adult person, which made it convenient to load on barges and railway platforms.

Today, to buy oil in Moscow or another region, barrels are not needed. It is transported by pipelines, as well as by tankers along sea and railroad tracks, but a barrel is kept as a unit of measure.

Scientists are looking for an alternative to oil from the beginning of its extraction, but in most areas it remains irreplaceable. And even with the development of other ways of obtaining power and chemicals, oil will remain an important and demanded resource.