What is API Gravity?

API Gravity is an industry scale expressing the gravity or density of liquid petroleum products. API gravity is an abbreviation for American Petroleum Institute gravity.

The measuring scale is calibrated in terms of degrees API; it may be calculated in terms of the following formula: Degrees API = 141.5/ sp.gr.60°F/60°F -131.5.

The higher the API gravity, the lighter the compound. Light crudes generally exceed 38 degrees API and heavy crudes are commonly labeled as all crudes with an API gravity of 22 degrees or below. Intermediate crudes fall in the range of 22 degrees to 38 degrees API gravity. Light crudes yield more gasoline.