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18.4: API Gravity

  • Page ID
    589
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    Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineers also use another gravity term which is called API gravity. It is used for liquids (e.g., condensates) and is defined as:

    \[^o API=\frac{141.5}{\left.\gamma_{o}\right|_{sc}}-131.5 \label{18.4}\]

    By definition (see Equation 18.3), the specific gravity of water is unity. Therefore, water has an API gravity of 10. The API gravity of 10 is associated with very heavy, almost asphaltic, oils. Light crude oils have an API greater than or equal to 45°. Condensate gravities range between 50° and 70° API. Liquid condensates are normally light in color.

    Contributors and Attributions

    • Prof. Michael Adewumi (The Pennsylvania State University). Some or all of the content of this module was taken from Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences' OER Initiative.


    This page titled 18.4: API Gravity is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Michael Adewumi (John A. Dutton: e-Education Institute) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.