A stable dependence of the gas retentivity of carbon absorbents on the structure and polarity of their surface is found. This relation makes it possible to predict the sorption properties and determines their parameters from chromatographic data. The sorptivity of high-polarizability molecules is most affected not by the total volume of the micropores but rather by the width of the micropore-size distribution and the surface polarity of the sorbents.Adsorbents obtained from petroleum residues (asphaltites, residues from propane de-asphaltization, concentrates of asphaltite compounds from acid and straight-run tars), are distinguished from commercial adsorbents by high sorptivity with the same pore structure owing to the higher content of heteroatoms and therefore high surface polarity [1,2].The present article describes the technology used to obtain the adsorbents with asphaltite addition, the properties of the adsorbents, and a mathematical relation that takes account of the sorptivity of the adsorbents, the total volume of the micropores, the width of the micropore-size distribution, as well as the surface polarity characterized by the content of heteroatoms. The carbon adsorbents were formed by a well-known commercial scheme [1] from a charge containing lean Propop'ev coal (central mine) containing 13.4 % volatile materials and 7 wt. % ash. Asphaltite obtained by benzene de-asphaltization of arlan oil tar contained 62% asphaltenes and 15% resins. The following charge was used to obtain adsorbents (wt. %): asphaltite -15, wood resin -26.5, and coal dust -58.5. The formation pressure was 20 MPa.The comminuted asphaltites were mixed at 50-80 °C with wood resin and coal dust. The resin obtained after mixing was shaped by pressing through dies with cell diameter 2 · 10 -3 m in a hydraulic press under pressure 12-25 MPa. The granules were allowed to stand in air at 20 °C for 4-6 h and then fractured into (5-10) · 10 -3 mm long fragments and dried in a rotating electric drum furnace at 100 °C in an atmosphere consisting of carbon dioxide for 30 min. The granules were carbonized in the same furnace and atmosphere over