Petroleum can be found in the form of bitumen, which is a thick, sticky, and dark liquid or semi-solid. It might be a refined product or it might be discovered in natural deposits. The term asphaltum, which derives from Ancient Greek, was also in use before to the 20th century.

The expanded procedures for evaluating the qualities that final products should possess are implied by the new standard. The document stipulates that in addition to basic parameters like conditional viscosity indicators and resistance to high-temperature impacts, bitumen’s resistance to aging during transportation and during the creation of asphalt mix is also regulated.

For the year 2018, the business Bitumen Material Plant (BMP) sold more than 745 thousand tonnes of bitumen in Oman, and abroad. In terms of the creation of the modified binder, we also made progress.

Asphalt is primarily utilized (70%) in the construction of roads, where it is combined with aggregate particles to form asphalt concrete as a glue or binder. Its other primary applications are the creation of roofing felt and the sealing of flat roofs using bituminous waterproofing solutions.

The phrase “crude bitumen” is sometimes used to describe naturally occurring asphalt. The substance formed from the fractional distillation of crude oil boiling at 525 °C (977 °F) is sometimes referred to as “refined bitumen,” and its viscosity is comparable to that of cold molasses.