Light or heavy
API gravity measures density. Lighter crudes yield more gasoline and diesel; heavier crudes yield more fuel oil and need more complex refining.
Products
Crude oil
Crude oil cargoes from producers and established traders, sold to qualified refiners and end-buyers against each grade’s assay.
We sell crude oil cargoes sourced from producers and established traders to qualified refiners and end-buyers. We also advise producers and sellers on marketing their crude — see crude oil sales advisory.
Each crude grade is defined by its assay. The quality parameters that apply to a cargo are set out in the contract and confirmed by independent inspection at loading. These typically include:
Quality parameters
- API gravity
- Sulphur content
- Pour point
- Total acid number (TAN)
- Kinematic viscosity
- Water and sediment (BS&W)
- Salt content
- Reid vapour pressure and H₂S, where relevant
Quality
Understanding crude quality
Sweet or sour
Sulphur content decides how much treatment a crude needs. Sweet crudes contain little sulphur; sour crudes need desulphurisation capacity.
Acidity and other properties
Acid number, metals, pour point and viscosity affect how a refinery can process a grade and how it is transported.
Pricing
How crude oil is priced
Physical crude is usually priced on a formula: the average of a benchmark over an agreed pricing period, plus or minus a differential that reflects the grade’s quality and location.
- Dated Brent — the reference for most Atlantic Basin and Mediterranean crude
- WTI — the US benchmark, delivered at Cushing, Oklahoma
- Dubai/Oman — the reference for Middle East crude sold to Asia
Brent and WTI
Market data: TradingView. Indicative and possibly delayed; not for trading.
We do not publish price lists or “available allocations”. Offers are issued in writing only, from an @alupetra.com address, once KYC is complete for both parties.
Request an offer
Send us the product or crude grade, specification, quantity, delivery terms and destination. We will respond after the KYC stage.