# Why is it called "sweet" crude oil

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-sweet-crude-oil/48381>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 4, 2001, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-sweet-crude-oil/48381 "2001-01-04T09:12:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Heath\_Doolin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Heath\_Doolin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heath_Doolin)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-sweet-crude-oil/48381/1 "2001-01-04T09:12:51Z")

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Just wondering while I was brushing through ragingbull lookin at stocks. Why is there a sweet crude oil? It cannot be actually sweet, can it?

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**Author:** ![Damhna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Damhna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damhna)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-sweet-crude-oil/48381/2 "2001-01-04T09:28:14Z")

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Guess you dont have much to sell huh?

Otherwise you’d understand why oil can be a very sweet thing indeed 🙂

Sorry for the smartassedness but I’ve never heard of sweet crude oil. In my time as a chemist for Esso I often dealt with crude samples but never heard a variety referred to as sweet.

An aside is that crude aint the thick black viscous stuff most folk think it is. Its a very clear liquid with a viscosity lower than water.

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**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-sweet-crude-oil/48381/3 "2001-01-04T10:09:45Z")

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From [http://www.geologyone.com/esa/energy/gasexpl/refine.html](http://www.geologyone.com/esa/energy/gasexpl/refine.html)

> [@](#):
>
> Small quantities of a crude oil may be composed of compounds containing oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur and metals. Sulphur content ranges from traces to more than 5 per cent. If a crude oil contains appreciable quantities of sulphur it is called a sour crude; if it contains little or no sulphur it is called a sweet crude.

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**Author:** ![WillGolfForFood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/82dd89/32.png) [@WillGolfForFood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillGolfForFood)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-sweet-crude-oil/48381/4 "2001-01-04T12:15:58Z")

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“Sweet” crude oil is particularly easy to refine because of those low quantities of sulphur.

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**Author:** ![Damhna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Damhna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damhna)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-sweet-crude-oil/48381/5 "2001-01-04T12:27:34Z")

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Didnt say I was a very good chemist 🙂