The United States continues to increase production of lighter crude oil
(Tue, 09 Oct 2018) As domestic production continues to increase, the average density of crude oil produced in the United States continues to become lighter. The average API gravityâa measure of a crude oilâs density where higher numbers mean lower densityâof U.S. crude oil increased in 2017 and through the first six months of 2018. Crude oil production with an API gravity greater than 40 degrees grew by 310,000 barrels per day (b/d) to more than 4.6 million b/d in 2017.