Crude oil is the term used for oil that is taken straight out of the ground. It is a "fossil fuel," which means that it formed from organic remains over a period of millions of years. It can be refined into various forms of energy such as gasoline, diesel fuel and heating oil.
It also is a key component in a variety of products. For example, crude oil is an important ingredient in plastics, medicines, crayons and tires. About 84 percent of the United States’ energy consumption comes from fossil fuels and approximately 40 percent of all energy used comes from various petroleum products that start out as crude oil.
Crude oil's characteristics vary from "light" - which is a straw-colored liquid - to "heavy" or tar-black solid. It also is called "sweet" or "sour" depending on the amount of sulfur it contains. An abundant commodity, world proven reserves stand at 1,295,085 million barrels.
Crude oil is processed at refineries and transformed into useable petroleum products. The cost of transporting and moving crude oil to refineries, plus processing fees, greatly affects the final cost of petroleum products. Motor gasoline constitutes about half of the total volume of products produced from crude oil.
SemGroup's Involvement
White Cliffs Pipeline® was built by SemGroup and is the only pipeline that directly moves crude oil out of the DJ Basin to the Cushing market and ultimately to refiners in the Mid-Continent area.
Rose Rock Midstream, L.P. is a growth-oriented Delaware limited partnership recently formed by SemGroup Corporation to engage in the business of crude oil gathering, transportation, storage and marketing in Colorado, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas.
In Europe, SemLogistics Milford Haven is the largest independent petroleum products storage facility in the United Kingdom, and it is the only one capable of handling crude oil.