A method for analyzing a crude oil to determine the amount of at least one organic acid compound contained in the crude oil comprising: extracting the organic acid compounds from a sample of a known amount of the crude oil to form an extract comprising the organic acid compounds and determining the amount of the extracted organic acids, wherein the organic acid compounds are extracted from the sample of a known amount of the crude oil by: (i) diluting a sample comprised of a known amount of the crude oil with an organic solvent; (ii) passing the diluted crude oil sample through an adsorbent column or cartridge comprising a solid phase sorbent to adsorb organic acid compounds from the diluted crude oil sample; (iii) passing an eluent comprising at least one volatile polar organic solvent having a boiling point lower than the boiling points of the organic acid compounds through the column or cartridge to elute the adsorbed organic acid compounds from the sorbent and removing from the column or cartridge an effluent comprising a solution of the organic acid compounds in the volatile polar organic solvent; and (iv) separating an extract comprising the organic acid compounds from the eluent by evaporation of the volatile polar organic solvent(s) and determining the amount of the extract; dissolving the extract in a specific volume of at least one polar solvent to form a solution of the extracted organic acid compounds in the polar solvent(s); introducing a sample comprising a specific volume of the solution of the extracted organic acid compounds in the polar solvent(s) to an apparatus comprising a reversed phase liquid chromatography column and a mass spectrometer arranged in series (hereinafter "LC-MS apparatus") wherein the reversed phase LC column contains a hydrophobic sorbent and the mobile phase for the LC column comprises a polar organic solvent; separating the organic acid compounds in the LC column of the LC-MS apparatus and continuously passing the separated organic acid compounds from the LC column to the MS of the LC-MS apparatus to ionize the organic acid compounds and to obtain a chromatogram with mass spectral data over time for the ionized organic acid compounds; determining the area under a peak(s) in an extracted ion chromatogram derived from the mass spectral data assigned to the organic acid compound(s); determining the amount of the organic acid compound(s) in the sample of the solution of the extracted organic acid compounds by comparing the area under the peak(s) assigned to the organic acid compound(s) in the extracted ion chromatogram with the area under a peak in an extracted ion chromatogram assigned to a specific amount of a standard organic acid compound; and extrapolating from the amount of the organic acid compound(s) in the sample of the solution of the extracted organic acid compounds to provide the total amount of the organic acid compound(s) in the extract. (i) diluting a sample comprised of a known amount of the crude oil with an organic solvent; (ii) passing the diluted crude oil sample through an adsorbent column or cartridge comprising a solid phase sorbent to adsorb organic acid compounds from the diluted crude oil sample; (iii) passing an eluent comprising at least one volatile polar organic solvent having a boiling point lower than the boiling points of the organic acid compounds through the column or cartridge to elute the adsorbed organic acid compounds from the sorbent and removing from the column or cartridge an effluent comprising a solution of the organic acid compounds in the volatile polar organic solvent; and (iv) separating an extract comprising the organic acid compounds from the eluent by evaporation of the volatile polar organic solvent(s) and determining the amount of the extract; dissolving the extract in a specific volume of at least one polar solvent to form a solution of the extracted organic acid compounds in the polar solvent(s); introducing a sample comprising a specific volume of the solution of the extracted organic acid compounds in the polar solvent(s) to an apparatus comprising a reversed phase liquid chromatography column and a mass spectrometer arranged in series (hereinafter "LC-MS apparatus") wherein the reversed phase LC column contains a hydrophobic sorbent and the mobile phase for the LC column comprises a polar organic solvent; separating the organic acid compounds in the LC column of the LC-MS apparatus and continuously passing the separated organic acid compounds from the LC column to the MS of the LC-MS apparatus to ionize the organic acid compounds and to obtain a chromatogram with mass spectral data over time for the ionized organic acid compounds; determining the area under a peak(s) in an extracted ion chromatogram derived from the mass spectral data assigned to the organic acid compound(s); determining the amount of the organic acid compound(s) in the sample of the solution of the extracted organic acid compounds by comparing the area under the peak(s) assigned to the organic acid compound(s) in the extracted ion chromatogram with the area under a peak in an extracted ion chromatogram assigned to a specific amount of a standard organic acid compound; and extrapolating from the amount of the organic acid compound(s) in the sample of the solution of the extracted organic acid compounds to provide the total amount of the organic acid compound(s) in the extract.