For many years, cargo surveyors have given a service to the oil industry by providing certified statements concerning the quantity and quality of bulk oil cargos which they have been appointed to survey. In the absence of consensus within the industry on how such quantities and qualities shall be determined, individual oil companies have either specified which oil measurement procedures shall be used by the surveyors they appoint or given them discretion to use whichever procedures they prefer. Because the accuracy of measurement of a given quantity of oil is dependent on the test and calculation methods used, the reliability of the quantities certified by cargo surveys has inevitably varied. This situation has proved a frequent cause of frustration, legal proceedings and additional costs. It is now generally recognized that the oil industry would benefit from the use of commonly accepted measurement and accounting procedures when oil cargos are being surveyed. This new part of the Petroleum Measurement Manual is concerned with measuring crude oil cargos.