Sweet, Sour and Brent Crude Oil

Sweet crude oil contains less than 0.5% Sulphur, while sour crude contains more than 0.5%.  Sweet crude oil has a sweet aroma because of less sulphur.    The low quantity of sulphur makes it more suitable / easier to produce gasoline that is why sweet crude oil is expensive. Presence of sulphur makes it toxic and also the production of gasoline is expensive. Brent Crude Oil is a sweet crude oil mainly produced in North Sea.  It is largest of the several key classifications of crude oil comprising of Ekofisk, Brent Crude, Forties, Brent Sweet Light Crude and Oseberg.  Its manufacturer also known as London Brent, Brent petroleum and Brent Blend.

Sour Crude Oil and the Gulf War Syndrome

Due to high sulphur content, the Sour Crude oil can be toxic and corrosive, particularly when it contains high levels of hydrogen sulfide (H2S). At low concentrations has the odor of rotten eggs. At high concentrations the breathing of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is right away fatal. At even higher concentrations, the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) can spoil the Olfactory Nerve, making the gas in fact odorless and undetectable, whilst paralyzing the respiratory system. Its effects on the human body may be alike to that of Gulf War Syndrome (headaches, dizziness, chronic fatigue, memory problems, birth defects, skin problems and breathing problems viz. asthma).

Doctor test

Doctor test is the name of a qualitative method of detecting undesirable sulfur compounds in petroleum distillates, that is, of determining whether oil is “sour oil ” or “sweet oil”.