A glossaryof common terms and abbreviations used in the industry, with links to more in-depth articles on key words
Bach ho (crude) - a light, sweet crude grade produced in Vietnam
Back haul - the return voyage for an oil tanker after delivering its primary cargo. An empty back haul results in a higher cost for shipping the primary cargo
Backwardation - a market condition where prices for a commodity in the future are lower than current or prompt prices
Bakken Basin - a major crude producing region in North America that produces primarily light-sweet crude
Bakken (crude) - a light, sweet crude grade produced in the US
Banoco (crude) - a medium, sour crude grade produced in Bahrain
Barge - non ocean-going vessels used to transport crude oil and refined products in coastal waters and inland waterways
Barrel - a common measure of volume used in the refining industry, for both crude oil and refined products
Base oil - one of the specialty products produced by a refinery. Used to formulate a variety of lubricating oils for use in engines and other machinery
Basic sediment and water - (BS&W) the volume of non-hydrocarbon contaminants contained in a cargo of crude oil. Usually this is made up of dirt (sediment) and water
Basrah heavy (crude) - a heavy, sour crude grade produced in Iraq
Basrah light (crude) - a medium, sour crude grade produced in Iraq
Batch process - a type of refining process in which processing happens in discrete parcels or batches, rather than continuously (continuous process)
Battery limits - the area directly around an individual process unit or a refinery, that encompasses all of the parts of the unit or plant
BBL - (Barrel) a common measure of volume used in the refining industry, for both crude oil and refined products
Belida light (crude) - a light, sweet crude grade produced in Indonesia, in SE Asia
Benchmark (price) - a price quote for an individual crude grade or product that is used as a reference for pricing other crudes or products
Benchmark (operations) - a measure of typical refining industry performance on a specific operational dimension
Benzene (content) - quality measure for gasoline, usually with a maximum limit due to concerns about carcinogenicity
Benzene (product) - a hydrocarbon with 6 carbon atoms in an unsaturated aromatic ring structure. Used as a petrochemical feedstock
Benzine - another name for gasoline, one of the major petroleum products produced from processing crude oil in a petroleum refinery
BFOE (contract) - a forward contract for light-sweet North Sea crude oil that can be satisfied with a variety of grades including: Brent, Forties, Oseberg, Ekofisk, Troll and WTI
BFOE (unit of measure) - (Barrel of fuel oil equivalent) measure of volume defined as barrels of fuel oil that would have the same energy content
Biodiesel - a diesel blendstock that is derived from renewable (non-fossil) sources such as vegetable or animal oils
Bioethanol - a non-refinery derived hydrocarbon that is used as a gasoline blendstock
Biofuels - fuels produced from agricultural products (e.g., bioethanol, biodiesel)
Bio LNG - LNG made from natural gas that has been produced from bio-based sources
Bio-methanol - methanol produced from bio-based sources such as bio-methane or through gasification of bio mass
Bitumen (crude) - a very low-API (high-density) crude oil such as those produced in oil sands of Western Canada
Bitumen (product) -the highest-density liquid refined product produced by a refinery, used for road construction and building materials
Black oil - a term used to refer to crude oil and residual fuel oil blends or blend stocks
Blendstock - any unfinished oil that is blended with other similar unfinished oils to make a final refined product
Blue hydrogen - hydrogen that is produced using fossil inputs (typically natural gas) but with carbon capture to reduce CO2 emissions
BNL (crude) - (Bonny Light) a light-sweet crude grade produced in Nigeria. It is an important benchmark crude for all West African production
BOB - an unfinished (intermediate) gasoline blend that only lacks the addition of a predetermined volume of ethanol to become finished gasoline
BOE - (barrel of oil equvalent) a measure of volume for a non-liquid hydrocarbon (typically natural gas) in terms of the barrels of crude oil that would have the same energy content
Boiling range - the temperature at which a liquid hydrocarbon is converted into a vapor
Boiling point - (BPT) the temperature at which a liquid hydrocarbon vaporizes
Bonga (crude) - a heavy, sweet crude grade produced in Nigeria
Bonito (crude) - a medium, sour crude grade produced in Brazil
Bonny light (crude) - (BNL) a light-sweet crude grade produced in Nigeria. It is an important benchmark crude for all West African production
Bow river (crude) - a heavy, sour crude crude grade produced in Western Canada
BPD - (Barrels per day) measure of throughput or capacity
BPT - (Boiling point) the temperature at which a liquid hydrocarbon vaporizes
Brass river (crude) - a medium, sweet crude grade produced in Nigeria
Breakeven - a market condition where prices are at levels that result in a marginal source of supply operating at zero variable cash profitability (ie just breaking even on the last unit supplied)
Breakout tank - tanks used to handle crude or product moving by pipeline
Brega (crude) - a light, sweet crude grade produced in Libya
Brent (crude) - a light sweet crude grade produced in the North Sea
Bright stock - a high-viscosity, paraffinic base oil produced from vacuum resid by means of solvent extraction to remove asphaltenes, waxes, and aromatics
British thermal unit - (Btu) a measure of energy commonly used in the oil and gas industry
BS&W - (Basic sediment & water) the volume of non-hydrocarbon contaminants contained in a cargo of crude oil. Usually this is made up of dirt (sediment) and water
BTC (pipeline) - a major crude oil pipeline that brings Caspian crude to the Mediterranean refining market
BTC (crude) - a light, sweet crude grade produced in Azerbaijan
Btu - (British thermal unit) a measure of energy commonly used in the oil and gas industry
BTX (unit) - (Benzene, Toluene, Xylene) a refining process unit that separates aromatics (Benzene, Toluene, Xylene) from reformate for use as petrochemical feedstocks
Bubble cap trays - the levels in a distillation tower at which hydrocarbons re-condense resulting in separation based on boiling point
Bullet - a specialized product storage tank for LPG. It gets its name from its bullet shape: a cylinder with rounded ends
Bunker - fuel used on board a ship
Bunker A - Diesel-range bunker fuel, typically called marine diesel or marine gasoil
Bunker C -The most common form of bunker fuel. Comprised primarily of vac resid range material, with a high viscosity that requires heating in order to pump
Bunker fuel - fuel used on board a ship
Butadiene - a four carbon hydrocarbon molecule with two double bonds
Butane - (C4) one of the lightest liquid streams produced in a refinery. The butane molecule has four carbon atoms and 10 hydrogen atoms
Butene - (C4=) an unsaturated four carbon olefin, basically butane with one double bond
Butylene - (C4=) an unsaturated four carbon olefin, basically butane with one double bond
BWAVE - the weighted average price of all Brent crude oil trades across an entire day