1.1 These Petroleum Measurement Tables are for use in the calculation of quantities of crude petroleum and petroleum products at reference conditions in any of three widely used systems of measurement. These tables are provided for standardized calculation of measured quantities of petroleum fluids regardless of point of origin, destination, or units of measure used by custom or statute.

1.2 The Petroleum Measurement Tables published in 1980, except for Tables 33 and 34 (which are being reissued without change), represent a major conceptual departure from previous versions. Inherent in the Petroleum Measurement Tables is the recognition of the present and future position of computers in the petroleum industry. The actual standard represented by the Petroleum Measurement Tables is neither the hardcopy printed tables nor the set of equations used to represent the density data but is an explicit implementation procedure used to develop computer subroutines for Tables 5, 6, 23, 24, 53, and 54. The standardization of an implementation procedure implies the standardization of the set of mathematical expressions, including calculational sequence and rounding procedures, used within the computer code. Absolute adherence to the outlined procedures will ensure that all computers and computer codes of the future, meeting the stated specifications and restrictions, will be able to produce identical results. Hence, the published implementation procedures are the primary standard, the distributed subroutines are the secondary standard, and the published tables are produced for convenience.