重油是原油提取汽油、柴油后的剩余重质油，其特点是分子量大、黏度高。重油的比重一般在0.82～0.95，比热在10,000～11,000kcal/kg左右。其成分主要是碳氢化合物，另外含有部分的（约0.1～4％）的硫黄及微量的无机化合物。主要用于大型蒸汽轮机锅炉及中大型船舶用引擎的燃油，不过由于现在大功率燃气轮机的出现，以及重油燃烧对环境的污染，现在重油锅炉几乎被淘汰了。不过，重油可以用作现代大型燃煤锅炉的启动点火燃料。现在对重油的研究方向主要是长链烃的裂化，目的是通过裂解重油得到轻质的柴油或者煤油。此外，二战其间重油可用于制造燃烧弹。

Fuel oil or heavy oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid fuel that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash point of approximately 40 °C (104 °F) and oils burned in cotton or wool-wick burners. In this sense, diesel is a type of fuel oil. Fuel oil is made of long hydrocarbon chains, particularly alkanes, cycloalkanes and aromatics. The term fuel oil is also used in a stricter sense to refer only to the heaviest commercial fuel that can be obtained from crude oil, i.e., heavier than gasoline and naphtha.