What Is Bitumen?
The period of time bitumen refers to a substance produced throughout the distillation of crude oil. Bitumen is known for its waterproofing and adhesive properties and is continuously used throughout the building trade, considerably for roads and highways. Production occurs through distillation, which eliminates lighter crude oil portions like gasoline and diesel, leaving the heavier bitumen behind. Deposits can also occur naturally at the bottom of ancient lakes, where prehistoric organisms have decayed and been subjected to heat and pressure.
Key Takeaways
- Bitumen is produced throughout the distillation of crude oil and as well as occurs naturally.
- Bitumen is known for its waterproofing and adhesive properties.
- It is composed of complex hydrocarbons and accommodates parts like calcium, iron, sulfur, and hydrogen.
- Bitumen prices are made up our minds by means of the state of the global financial device and the supply and demand for crude oil.
- The sphere’s first bitumen futures contracts debuted on the Shanghai Futures Exchange in October 2013.
Understanding Bitumen
Bitumen is a byproduct of crude oil. it is composed of complex hydrocarbons and accommodates parts like calcium, iron, sulfur, and oxygen. The usual of subject material and ease of producing depends on the provide and type of crude oil from which it is derived. It was first used for its natural adhesive and waterproofing characteristics, helping to bind development materials together, along with to line ship bottoms.
Bitumen can deform utterly underneath heavy such a lot. Continued stress at the subject material can result in cracking. It oxidizes, which is in a position to go away the asphalt brittle. The easiest way its shape is affected relies on a few problems, at the side of the composition of the asphalt mixture and the ambient temperature.
As well-known above, bitumen is not just produced by means of distilling crude oil, it’s also a naturally-occurring product. The period of time is also used to refer to oil sands or in part consolidated sandstone containing a naturally going down mixture of sand, clay, and water that is saturated with a dense and very viscous form of petroleum.
Bitumen Uses
The product has quite a lot of fashionable uses. It’s in most cases meant for industrial use and is continuously found in side road paving. The majority of U.S. roads are made of each bitumen or a mix of bitumen and aggregates, harking back to concrete.
Each different key use for bitumen is waterproofing. For instance, it was continuously used to water-proof boats and other marine vessels, along with the edges of buildings. It was used in ancient times as mortar in development building.
Together with being used as a waterproofing agent and acting as an adhesive, engineers who replace asphalt roads can reuse the material for various side road duties. Bitumen is also continuously used by firms that create and manufacture roofing products.Â
Each different early use of bitumen was in pictures and medicine. When bitumen was performed to plates and exposed to mild, early photographers were ready to offer static black and white pictures. This process, despite the fact that, was long and drawn out. And a couple of cultures—considerably Persian—used bitumen to treat sure sicknesses, harking back to gastrointestinal and bone issues.
Ancient civilizations traded the material and Herodotus, a fifth-century BC Greek historian, claimed that the walls of ancient Babylon contained bitumen.
Bitumen Prices
Bitumen is a residual subject material right through the process of refining crude oil into liquefied petroleum gas and gasoline. As such, bitumen prices are intently dependent on the equivalent set of items that affect the price of crude. The ones include supply and demand and geopolitical stability in crude-producing spaces of the sector.
One additional factor that influences bitumen prices is the cost spread between heavy and light-weight crude. Bitumen is produced as a byproduct right through the distillation process for heavy crude. As such, refiner alternatives to process heavy versus mild crude plays are an important for bitumen prices.
The U.S. executive is an important purchaser for asphalt produced throughout the country. No longer strangely, that means monetary conditions have a spillover affect on bitumen prices. For instance, higher name for for asphalt for roads right through an monetary enlargement can result in better prices. China moreover plays an important place in understanding name for and setting prices for bitumen in recent years because of its heavy investment in scaling its side road infrastructure.
Bitumen Futures
The sphere’s first bitumen futures contracts debuted on the Shanghai Futures Exchange in October 2013. It was aimed toward operators of refineries for crude oil, dealers in bitumen, and end-users of the product. At the side of Chinese language language entities, bitumen futures purchasing and promoting was restricted to out of the country banks, this means that that out of the country investors can’t business the commodity.
The futures contract is per 30 days, priced in yuan, and comes to the physically provide of 10 metric loads of bitumen in line with lot upon expiration. The entire product for provide will have to be certified by means of the business and should adhere to top quality specifications described throughout the Bitumen Futures Provide Regulations.
Bitumen Deposits
Naturally-occurring bitumen can be came upon on the planet’s oil sands deposits. Canada has an important supplies on the planet, in particular throughout the province of Alberta. Rising oil prices in Canada made it economical to extract petroleum on a large scale. The Canadian Energy Research Institute, which is an independent charitable crew, estimates that the price of crude oil will have to hit $70.08 in line with barrel for a stand-alone bitumen mine to be successful.
Other deposits of bituminous sands can be found in america, Venezuela, and Russia. Venezuela’s deposits, produced by means of state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., were identified to exceed 230 billion barrels. Russia’s bitumen supply is thought of as concentrated in Siberia and the Volga-Urals house. Kazakhstan is also each and every different key house for bitumen supplies.
Despite the fact that continuously at a loss for words with asphalt, bitumen is a completely different substance.
Bitumen vs. Asphalt
Bitumen may often be at a loss for words with asphalt. This is on account of every are continuously used throughout the building trade. Alternatively there is a distinct difference between the two. As well-known above, bitumen is a byproduct of crude oil that is used to bind asphalt together when used for duties, harking back to paving roads or roofing. It is used for its adhesive properties and because it resists harm from oil and water.
Asphalt, on the other hand, is a manmade substance. It is produced using the residue from petroleum distillate or from byproducts of natural deposits. It is heated, dried, and blended in conjunction with bitumen and sand. Asphalt is then performed using apparatus. The thickness of the asphalt relies on the purpose of the undertaking. For instance, asphalt used for roads may be thicker than when it’s used in shingles.
How Is Bitumen Made?
Bitumen is a byproduct of crude oil. It is continuously produced through a refining process throughout which crude oil is reduced. It eliminates lighter crude oil portions and leaves behind the heavier bitumen. This product has many industrial programs. It is used throughout the building of roads, where it is known as asphalt, and in roofing. Bitumen moreover occurs naturally and can be found in Canada’s oil sands.
What Is the Primary Use of Bitumen?
Bitumen is principally used for industrial purposes. It can be came upon throughout the building trade where it is used to make roads, which is why it is continuously referred to as asphalt in this software. It moreover has waterproofing and adhesive properties, which makes it a excellent product for roofing.
How Do I Invest in Bitumen?
Bitumen futures are available for business throughout the Shanghai Futures Exchange. They’ve been first introduced in 2013 and feature been meant for crude oil refinery operators, bitumen dealers, and end-users. Like other purchasing and promoting movements, China restricted bitumen purchasing and promoting to house entities and out of the country banks. Alternatively you’ll be able to spend money on bitumen indirectly through firms that refine crude oil and produce the product.
The Bottom Line
When folks concentrate the word bitumen, they’ll often bring to mind the roads on which they pressure. While that isn’t exactly untrue, it is often at a loss for words with each and every different building substance: asphalt. While asphalt is a manmade subject material that is used to pave roads, bitumen is a byproduct of crude oil that is used for its waterproofing and adhesive properties. As such, it is used to bind asphalt together right through side road building and in roofing programs. A large number of the sector’s supplies of bitumen come from Canada’s Tar Sands.
