The issues important for the oil industry for determining the content of sulfur compounds, which cause problems during the transportation and processing of oil and oil products, are discussed. The determination of these undesirable compounds is an important and urgent task, since sulfur is the most common heteroatom in oil and oil products. The total sulfur indicator includes a number of sulfur compounds that are part of petroleum products (elemental sulfur, hydrogen sulfide, organic sulfides and disulfides, thiols and thiophenes) and oil (hydrogen sulfide, methyl and ethyl mercaptans). The requirements for chromatographic equipment for the analysis of petroleum products are listed and justified. Issues of sample preparation and analysis automation are touched upon. Examples of equipment for quantitative analysis of sulfur compounds are given.