One of the major arguments against using trace metal characterization as a tool to identify oil spills is lack of reliability of the data. With this in mind, the precision of flameless atomic absorption spectroscopy and of neutron activation analysis was determined for vanadium in crude oil residues. Thirty crude oil residues (beach asphalts) were analyzed by both methods, and the results compared. For neutron activation analysis, the population mean was 195 ppm, and the standard deviation of the method was 5.38 ppm. For flameless atomic absorption spectroscopy, the population mean was 202 ppm, and the standard deviation 19.5 ppm.