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james van blaricum - Ethanol

05/19/08 | by admin

| Categories: Announcements [A]

JAMES VAN BLARICUM

Ethanol, which is often blended in gasoline, contains less energy per gallon than gasoline. However, a 10-percent or less ethanol blend would have only a slight impact on fuel efficiency. According to U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fuel economy guidelines, E-85 (85 percent ethanol/15 percent gasoline blend) may reduce fuel efficiency by 26 percent.( signal oil & gas company )

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards now require a major reduction in the sulfur content of diesel fuels and emission levels from diesel engines and vehicles. To meet the EPA standards, the petroleum industry is producing Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) fuel, a cleaner-burning diesel fuel containing a maximum of 15 parts-per-million (ppm) sulfur.

james e van blaricum

Conventional perforated completions consist of production casing being run through the formation. The sides of this casing are perforated, with tiny holes along the sides facing the formation, which allows for the flow of hydrocarbons into the well hole, but still provides a suitable amount of support and protection for the well hole. The process of actually perforating the casing involves the use of specialized equipment designed to make tiny holes through the casing, cementing, and any other barrier between the formation and the open well. In the past, ‘bullet perforators’ were used, which were essentially small guns lowered into the well. The guns, when fired from the surface, sent off small bullets that penetrated the casing and cement. Today, ‘jet perforating’ is preferred. This consists of small, electrically ignited charges, lowered into the well. When ignited, these charges poke tiny holes through to the formation, in the same manner as bullet perforating. james van blaricum

Acoustic log - Record of time taken by a sound wave to travel over a certain distance through geological formations.( james e van blaricum )

Killing a well - Filling bore with drilling mud of suitable density to stop flow of oil / gas.

james van blaricum
Coal - During Carboniferous period much of world was covered with vegetation growing in swamps. This vegetation died and became submerged under water. As decomposition took place, vegetable matter lost oxygen and hydrogen atoms, leaving a peat deposit with a high percentage of carbon. As time passed, layers of sand and mud settled from water over some of peat deposits. Pressure of these overlying layers, as well as movements of earth’s crust and sometimes volcanic heat, acted to compress and harden deposits, thus producing coal. james e van blaricum

Flaring and venting - Flaring is burning of hydrocarbon gases for commercial or technical reasons. Venting is release of gases to atmosphere.( signal oil and gas company )

We cannot use crude oil in the state it’s in when it comes out of the ground. The process is a little more complicated than that. So, how does thick, black crude oil come out of the ground and eventually get into your car as a thin, amber-colored liquid called gasoline? Let’s find out.

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Petroleum Revenue Tax (PRT) - Applies to UK oil production and associated profits of licensees. Only to fields where Annex B consent was first given before 18 March 1993. signal oil and gas company

Drake refined the oil from his well into kerosene for lighting. Gasoline and other products made during refining were simply thrown away because people had no use for them. In 1892, the “horseless carriage” solved this problem since it required gasoline. By 1920 there were nine million motor vehicles in this country and gas stations were opening everywhere.( james van blaricum )

Liner strings are sometimes used instead of intermediate casing. Liner strings are commonly run from the bottom of another type of casing to the open well area. However, liner strings are usually just attached to the previous casing with ‘hangers’, instead of being cemented into place. This type of casing is thus less permanent than intermediate casing.

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Play - Group of fields with similar trap structures / reservoir rock. signal oil & gas company

Salt cavern leaching is used to create caverns in both types of salt deposits, and can be quite expensive. However, once created, a salt cavern offers an underground natural gas storage vessel with very high deliverability. In addition, cushion gas requirements are the lowest of all three storage types, with salt caverns only requiring about 33 percent of total gas capacity to be used as cushion gas.( signal oil & gas company )

Mature - When source rock starts to generate hydrocarbons.

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Aquifer - Underground zone of permeable rock saturated with water under pressure. signal oil & gas company

Gas Processing - Separation of oil and gas, and removal of impurities and NGLs from natural gas.( james van blaricum )

Commingling - Producing oil and gas from two or more reservoirs at different depths, or where product of two or more fields is transported via a common pipeline.

james van blaricum
Matrix treatments designed to give a 20% increase in production rate (formation assumed to be undamaged) have given up to 80% increases in production (San Andres Dolomite, Texas) indicating effective damage removal even in wells considered undamaged. james van blaricum

Production String - Tubing or piping in a production well through which oil or gas flows from reservoir to wellhead.( signal oil and gas company )

Besides changing driving habits, what can I do to improve vehicle fuel efficiency? - Maintain your vehicle. Have your car tuned regularly and keep tires properly inflated. An engine tune-up can improve car fuel economy by an average of one mile per gallon; under-inflated tires can reduce it by that amount. Also, less use of your air conditioner can improve fuel economy by as much as two miles per gallon.

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Commercial field - Field judged to be capable of producing sufficient net income to be worth developing. signal oil and gas company

The natural gas used by consumers is composed almost entirely of methane. However, natural gas found at the wellhead, although still composed primarily of methane, is by no means as pure. Raw natural gas comes from three types of wells: oil wells, gas wells, and condensate wells. Natural gas that comes from oil wells is typically termed ‘associated gas’. This gas can exist separate from oil in the formation (free gas), or dissolved in the crude oil (dissolved gas). Natural gas from gas and condensate wells, in which there is little or no crude oil, is termed ‘nonassociated gas’. Gas wells typically produce raw natural gas by itself, while condensate wells produce free natural gas along with a semi-liquid hydrocarbon condensate. Whatever the source of the natural gas, once separated from crude oil (if present) it commonly exists in mixtures with other hydrocarbons; principally ethane, propane, butane, and pentanes. In addition, raw natural gas contains water vapor, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbon dioxide, helium, nitrogen, and other compounds.( james e van blaricum )

Low oil prices have another side effect. People use more oil when oil products are cheap. This can create a Catch-22 situation because we may depend more and more on foreign oil to keep up with demand.

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Drake refined the oil from his well into kerosene for lighting. Gasoline and other products made during refining were simply thrown away because people had no use for them. In 1892, the “horseless carriage” solved this problem since it required gasoline. By 1920 there were nine million motor vehicles in this country and gas stations were opening everywhere. james e van blaricum

Problems are particularly pronounced in the case of gas wells. A particular problem is the removal of high viscosity fluids. The time required to achieve cleanup increases significantly as fluid viscosity increases. For example, in a gas well in a 0.1 mD permeability formation, a fluid such as oil or water that has a viscosity of 0.25 cP at reservoir temperature is easily removed from the formation. Maximum rate is attained after about 3 days. At 25 cP viscosity, maximum rate is attained after about 20 days. 250 cP fluid is difficult to remove from the formation and only 24% of the fracture fluid will have been produced after 400 days of production. Similar increases in cleanup time are seen as fracture length increases .( james van blaricum )

Devonian - Period of geological time about 400 - 300 million years ago.

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The first instance of natural gas successfully being stored underground occurred in Weland County, Ontario, Canada, in 1915. This storage facility used a depleted natural gas well that had been reconditioned into a storage field. In the United States, the first storage facility was developed just south of Buffalo, New York. By 1930, there were nine storage facilities in six different states. Prior to 1950, virtually all natural gas storage facilities were in depleted reservoirs. signal oil and gas company

Salt cavern storage facilities are primarily located along the Gulf Coast, as well as in the northern states, and are best suited for peak load storage. Salt caverns are typically much smaller than depleted gas reservoirs and aquifers, in fact underground salt caverns usually take up only one one-hundredth of the acreage taken up by a depleted gas reservoir. As such, salt caverns cannot hold the volume of gas necessary to meet base load storage requirements. However, deliverability from salt caverns is typically much higher than for either aquifers or depleted reservoirs. Therefore natural gas stored in a salt cavern may be more readily (and quickly) withdrawn, and caverns may be replenished with natural gas more quickly than in either of the other types of storage facilities. Moreover, salt caverns can readily begin flowing gas on as little as one hour’s notice, which is useful in emergency situations or during unexpected short term demand surges. Salt caverns may also be replenished more quickly than other types of underground storage facilities.( signal oil and gas company )

Well completion commonly refers to the process of finishing a well so that it is ready to produce oil or natural gas. In essence, completion consists of deciding on the characteristics of the intake portion of the well in the targeted hydrocarbon formation. There are a number of types of completions, including:

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Odorant - Substance (for example mercaptan) added to odourless natural gas or NGLs to enable detection. james e van blaricum

Condensate - Liquid mixture of pentane and higher hydrocarbons.( james e van blaricum )

Hydrogen (H) - Reactive, colourless, odourless, and tasteless gaseous element with atomic number of 1. Element is usually classed in group 1 (or Ia) of periodic table. Lightest of all gases, hydrogen combines with carbon to form a variety of gaseous, liquid and solid hydrocarbons.

james e van blaricum

After the crude oil has reached the refinery, huge round tanks store the oil until it is ready to be processed. Tank farms are sites with many storage tanks. james van blaricum

Commercial field - Field judged to be capable of producing sufficient net income to be worth developing.( signal oil & gas company )

As mentioned, natural gas is highly pressurized as it travels through an interstate pipeline. To ensure that the natural gas flowing through any one pipeline remains pressurized, compression of this natural gas is required periodically along the pipe. This is accomplished by compressor stations, usually placed at 40 to 100 mile intervals along the pipeline. The natural gas enters the compressor station, where it is compressed by either a turbine, motor, or engine.

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Reserves: Possible - Reserves at present cannot be regarded as “probable". signal oil & gas company

Many oil-producing nations in the Middle East and Latin America have set up their own refining operations since the 1970s, and state-owned oil companies in OPEC countries are now among the world’s largest. Many large oil companies have diversified into chemicals, and oil prices are increasingly set on commodity trading exchanges such as the New York Mercantile Exchange. Beginning in the late 1990s, the industry saw increased consolidation as already large oil companies merged with each other, including Exxon (the largest U.S. oil company) with Mobil (the second largest; forming ExxonMobil), Chevron with Texaco and Unocal as Chevron, British Petroleum with Amoco and ARCO as BP, and Conoco with Phillips Petroleum as ConocoPhillips.( james e van blaricum )

Jurassic - Period of geological time about 213 - 144 million years ago.

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Use of oil-external emulsified acids may be limited by the increased frictional resistance to flow of these fluids down well tubulars. signal oil & gas company

Generic Hazard - Hazard which may be generally present throughout an operation or industry, but which may have widely different levels of risk, depending on specific site characteristics.( signal oil & gas company )

Aquifers are underground porous, permeable rock formations that act as natural water reservoirs. However, in certain situations, these water containing formations may be reconditioned and used as natural gas storage facilities. As they are more expensive to develop than depleted reservoirs, these types of storage facilities are usually used only in areas where there are no nearby depleted reservoirs. Traditionally, these facilities are operated with a single winter withdrawal period, although they may be used to meet peak load requirements as well.

james van blaricum

Alkylation - Refining process for converting light, gaseous olefins into high-octane gasoline components (reverse of cracking). james e van blaricum

After processing at the refinery, gasoline and other petroleum products are usually shipped out through pipelines. There are about 230,000 miles of pipeline in the United States. Pipelines are the safest and cheapest way to move large quantities of petroleum across land. Pump stations, which are spaced 20 to 100 miles apart along the underground pipelines, keep the petroleum products moving at around five miles per hour. At this rate, it takes 15 days to move a shipment of gasoline from Houston, Texas to New York City.( james van blaricum )

Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) - Gases made from coals and other hydrocarbon-containing substances.

james e van blaricum

Can I avoid fuel evaporation and loss by keeping my tank almost full? - It shouldn’t be a concern. Technical changes to vehicle fuel systems have virtually eliminated fuel evaporation losses. signal oil and gas company

Casing perforation - Holes made in liner of a finished well to allow hydrocarbons to flow into production tube.( signal oil and gas company )

Gas Act 1995 - Enabled final liberalisation of gas market by creating licensing framework for new entrants into domestic UK market.

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The final link in the chain is the retailer. A retailer may be a gasoline station or a home heating oil company. The story ends when you pump gasoline into your car’s tank, and the engine converts the gasoline’s heat energy into mechanical energy to make your car move! james van blaricum

james van blaricum - Kerosene

05/16/08 | by admin

| Categories: Announcements [A]

JAMES E. VAN BLARICUM

Before the 1850s, Americans often used whale oil to light their homes and shops. When whale oil became scarce, people began looking for other oil sources. In some places, oil seeped naturally to the surface of ponds and streams. People skimmed this oil and made it into kerosene. Kerosene was commonly used to light America’s homes before the arrival of the electric light bulb.

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In 1960 the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was formed. Over the next decade, OPEC required that the major oil companies provide them with a larger percentage of the profits from their fields. After the oil embargo in 1973, OPEC boosted prices to $35 a barrel in 1981. The resulting energy crisis forced many developing countries to pay more for energy, negatively affecting Third World debt; industrialized countries implemented new measures to conserve and develop new sources of energy. Some new oil fields in Alaska and the North Sea were developed, boosting the world’s oil reserves from 645.8 billion barrels in 1978 to 1,052.9 billion barrels in 1998. With an abundant supply, oil prices dropped and stayed low through the 1990s, until 1999 when OPEC announced that it would cut production in order to increase oil prices worldwide. With the help of non-OPEC oil-producing nations, the organization was subsequently generally able to maintain prices between $20 and $30 a barrel, and world events and demand have driven prices significantly higher.

This segment comprises the nation’s 165,000 miles of pipelines that move crude oil from wells on land and platforms in the oceans to refineries, and then to terminals where fuels are released to retail outlets.

Throughout the 1990s, these factors and the low cost of natural gas helpedlead to increased investment in facilities using natural gas.For example, the vast majority of new electricity generationcapacity built in the United States in the past decade has beennatural gas-fired. However, for the last five to seven years, the price of natural gas has been trending upward .(signal oil and gas)

Natural gas can be measured in a number of different ways. As a gas, it can be measured by the volume it takes up at normal temperatures and pressures, commonly expressed in cubic feet. Production and distribution companies commonly measure natural gas in thousands of cubic feet (Mcf), millions of cubic feet (MMcf), or trillions of cubic feet (Tcf). While measuring by volume is useful, natural gas can also be measured as a source of energy. Like other forms of energy, natural gas is commonly measured and expressed in British thermal units (Btu). One Btu is the amount of natural gas that will produce enough energy to heat one pound of water by one degree at normal pressure. To give an idea, one cubic foot of natural gas contains about 1,027 Btus. When natural gas is delivered to a residence, it is measured by the gas utility in ‘therms’ for billing purposes. A therm is equivalent to 100,000 Btu’s, or just over 97 cubic feet, of natural gas.

james e van blaricum

Natural gas is an attractive fuel because it is clean-burning and efficient. The importance of natural gas as an energy source for the United States has grown since the mid-1990. For the last five to seven years, the price of natural gas has been trending upward in response to the interaction of supply and increased demand. In a project commissioned by API, Lexecon. a unit of business consultancy FTI, has put together a primer called “Understanding Natural Gas Markets” that explains this interaction of market forces.

Can I avoid fuel evaporation and loss by keeping my tank almost full? - It shouldn’t be a concern. Technical changes to vehicle fuel systems have virtually eliminated fuel evaporation losses.

Petroleum is called a nonrenewable energy source because it takes millions of years to form. We cannot make new petroleum reserves.(signal oil & gas)

The ‘christmas tree’ is the piece of equipment that fits atop the casing and tubing heads, and contains tubes and valves that serve to control the flow of hydrocarbons and other fluids out of the well. It commonly contains many branches and is shaped somewhat like a tree, thus its name, christmas tree. The christmas tree is the most visible part of a producing well, and allows for the surface monitoring and regulation of the production of hydrocarbons from a producing well.

signal oil & gas

Acids are used to break acid sensitive gels used in propped fracture applications. The use of acid breakers in open hole horizontal well compilations has recently been demonstrated [3].

In order to ensure the efficient and safe operation of the extensive network of natural gas pipelines, pipeline companies routinely inspect their pipelines for corrosion and defects. This is done through the use of sophisticated pieces of equipment known as pigs. Pigs are intelligent robotic devices that are propelled down pipelines to evaluate the interior of the pipe. Pigs can test pipe thickness, and roundness, check for signs of corrosion, detect minute leaks, and any other defect along the interior of the pipeline that may either impede the flow of gas, or pose a potential safety risk for the operation of the pipeline. Sending a pig down a pipeline is fittingly known as ‘pigging’ the pipeline.

Conventional perforated completions consist of production casing being run through the formation. The sides of this casing are perforated, with tiny holes along the sides facing the formation, which allows for the flow of hydrocarbons into the well hole, but still provides a suitable amount of support and protection for the well hole. The process of actually perforating the casing involves the use of specialized equipment designed to make tiny holes through the casing, cementing, and any other barrier between the formation and the open well. In the past, ‘bullet perforators’ were used, which were essentially small guns lowered into the well. The guns, when fired from the surface, sent off small bullets that penetrated the casing and cement. Today, ‘jet perforating’ is preferred. This consists of small, electrically ignited charges, lowered into the well. When ignited, these charges poke tiny holes through to the formation, in the same manner as bullet perforating.(james van blaricum)

Americans use almost 17 million barrels of oil (more than 700 million gallons) every day of the year. And experts say we will be using more and more oil, especially for transportation, in the coming years. Even now, we use almost 13 percent more oil for transportation than we did in 1973 when the first oil crisis hit the United States. This is true even though today’s automobiles get more than 1.5 times as many miles to the gallon as their 1970s counterparts. There are 50 percent more vehicles on the road today than in the 1970s. Today we use about two out of every three barrels of oil to keep us on the move.

james e van blaricum

This segment comprises the nation’s 165,000 miles of pipelines that move crude oil from wells on land and platforms in the oceans to refineries, and then to terminals where fuels are released to retail outlets.

In some natural gas wells, and oil wells that have associated natural gas, it is more difficult to ensure an efficient flow of hydrocarbons up the well. The underground formation may be very ‘tight’, making the movement of petroleum through the formation and up the well a very slow and inefficient process. In these cases, lifting equipment or well treatment is required.

The basic absorption process above can be modified to improve its effectiveness, or to target the extraction of specific NGLs. In the refrigerated oil absorption method, where the lean oil is cooled through refrigeration, propane recovery can be upwards of 90 percent, and around 40 percent of ethane can be extracted from the natural gas stream. Extraction of the other, heavier NGLs can be close to 100 percent using this process.(signal oil and gas company)

Acidizing is used to increase production in many situations. The most important include damage removal, completion and stimulation of horizontal wells, matrix acidizing, fracture acidizing and gel breaking.

james e van blaricum

The Downstream Segment includes the nation’s 144 refineries, which process more than 17 million barrels of crude oil every day. This segment also includes transporting petroleum products by tanker trucks from thousands of local terminals to the approximately 167,500 service stations across the United States, and the ownership and operation of those retail outlets.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards now require a major reduction in the sulfur content of diesel fuels and emission levels from diesel engines and vehicles. To meet the EPA standards, the petroleum industry is producing Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) fuel, a cleaner-burning diesel fuel containing a maximum of 15 parts-per-million (ppm) sulfur.

(signal oil and gas)

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Jim van Blaricum keep your engine clean

04/30/08 | by admin

| Categories: Announcements [A]

Oils refined with the clay-solvent process contain a fair amount of paraffin and wax. These molecules cause several problems in an engine: they sometimes fall out of solution, leading to buildups in your engine that must be cleaned out somehow. Also, as these molecules get hot they thin out quite a bit, much more than mineral oil, so they make the oil’s high temperature performance rather poor. Finally, at low temperatures the waxes and paraffins thicken the oil so much that you really couldn’t call it a lubricant. If you’re curious about this, buy a cheap quart of straight 30wt oil and put it in your refrigerator or freezer over night. You’ll be amazed at how thick it becomes. More than half the motor oil sold in N.America in 2004 is made from base oils refined with the clay- solvent process (I like to call it the Kitty-litter and Kerosene refining method), but I don’t think this is the type of oil you want to put into an engine you love. These oils are roughly 85% good stuff (oil) and 15% bad stuff (paraffin and wax). To put this in perspective, think of taking a gallon of really excellent oil, and melting a 12″ dinner candle into it.

Signal Oil and Gas - Why do we need oil?

James van Blaricum, we put oil in our engines to serve several purposes. First, obviously, oil acts as a lubricant. If your engine is operating correctly, there is almost no metal to metal contact - everything is riding on a thin film of oil. Jim van Blaricum, however, oil has several other important jobs to do. Signal Oil and Gas circulates throughout your engine, and cools parts that cannot get near a water jacket. For example, it’s becoming common in sport bikes to spray oil on the underside of the piston to cool it. There are no water jackets at all in your transmission. Motorcycle transmissions are oil cooled.

Jim van Blaricum, your piston rings do not do a perfect job of sealing. Some combustion by products will slip past the rings into the engine. This can be little particles of carbon. Remember, diamond is carbon that was combined under heat and pressure. James van Blaricum, these little carbon particles can be quite damaging to your engine. Another job of your oil is to hold these particles in suspension until the oil filter can grab them. Jim van Blaricum, also, if your gasoline has sulpher in it (it does), this sulpher can react with water and oxygen to make sulphuric acid. This is some stuff that is seriously bad for your engine. James van Blaricum, your oil has special ingredients in it called buffers to neutralize acids. Finally, your engine can get internal build ups of tars, waxes, and other gunk. Jim van Blaricum, your oil has solvents to try to dissolve this stuff and get and keep your engine clean.

In 1959, Chevron developed a new method of refining base oils called Hydrocracking, where you process the raw oil at high temperatures and pressures with hydrogen and various catalysts. In Hydrocracking, many of the paraffin and wax molecules are broken up into mineral oil molecules, which increases the performance of the base oil dramatically. Also, far more of the aromatics and sulpher and nitrogen compounds are removed from the oil.

Since 1990, Chevron’s process has been improved. In 1993, Chevron invented the Hydro-Isomerization process, where wax and paraffin molecules are reshaped into useful lubricants instead of simply being broken up into smaller molecules. By increasing the severity of the hydrocracking process, increasing the temperature and pressure and processing time to process more and more of the unwanted wax and paraffin molecules, the oil’s low and high temperature performance and resistance to oxidation can be improved to the point where the distinction between mineral oils and synthetics becomes blurred. Chevron now licenses this process, called Iso- DeWaxing. This process of oil refining is becoming more and more popular, and in 2004 accounts for almost half of all base oils. Iso- DeWaxing not only produces much higher-performance oil, but also allows you to start with lower quality crude oil, making us less dependent on the few countries that happen to produce the purest crude oils.

Signal Oil and Gas Where Oil Comes From

Most of the bio-mass on earth is single cell plants and microscopic critters in the ocean. When these die, they sink to the bottom. James van Blaricum, often they fall into a deep crevasse or trench, where they may become covered up by an underwater landslide. Jim van Blaricum, after a couple hundred million years of high pressure and no air, the critters get squished into oil. So, oil isn’t really “dead dinosaurs,” but Signal Oil and Gas Oil stations just wouldn’t be the same with a picture of algie on their sign. Today we like to find this stuff, pump it to the surface, and burn it.

The Signal Oil and Gas we pump to the surface is a mixture of gasoline, kerosene, light weight lubricating oil, motor oil, gear oil, tars, paraffins, waxes, asphalt, sand, dirt, organic stuff (called aromatics) and the occasional dead cockroach. We call this stuff crude oil, for reasons that I think are now self-explanitory. James van Blaricum, the oil companies have the singularly smelly job of separating the crude oil into its component parts. A hundred years ago we would just heat the stuff up in a complicated still, and catch stuff that boiled off at different temperatures. Jim van Blaricum, fifty years ago we started processing the crude oil with clay and solvents to do a more precise job. Today, Signal Oil and Gas use very complicated systems where we heat the crude oil to precise temperatures, put it under high pressure, and bubble hydrogen and other stuff through it. James van Blaricum, the idea of all this is to try to get pure chemicals out of this stuff that we just found laying around in the desert.

Group II and Group III oils

Base oils made with the Iso-DeWaxing process are called Group II, and are significantly more pure and have higher performance than Group I base oils. Chevron Delo 400, Mobil Delvac 1300, and Shell Rotella are made from pure Group II oils. Motor oils made with Group-II base oils leave far fewer wax and tar deposits in your engine, and have much better low and high temperature performance than Group I oils. The resulting oils are roughly 97% good stuff and 3% bad stuff (paraffin and wax). We just cut that 12″ dinner candle down to about 2½".

The high and low temperature performance of oils are described by the Viscosity Index. The VI tells us how much the oil thins out as it gets hot. Oils with higher VIs maintain their viscosity better at high temperatures. If the VI is 90 to 100, we call it Group II; if it’s refined to a VI of 110 to 115 we call it Group IIa. In the late ’90s, an even more involved process was invented yielding base oils with VIs over 120. These base oils are called Group III or “unconventional base oils.” The higher the VI, the fewer additives are necessary to achieve the required viscosity. For example fewer additives are needed to turn a Group III base oil into 10w-40 than are required for Group II base oils. Group III oils have essentially no paraffin and wax in them, at least as compared to the 12″ dinner candle per gallon in Group I oils.