The features of the distribution of vanadium and nickel between asphaltenes and resins have been revealed using heavy oils from Tatarstan and Samara oblast oilfields as an example. It has been shown that depending on the V and Ni content in asphaltenes and resins, heavy oils of different productive plays are divided into two separate groups. An increase in the V or Ni content of heavy oils is accompanied by an increase in the concentration of the respective metal in asphaltenes and resins. The intervals of variation in the V and Ni content of asphaltenes and resins of the oils attributed to each group have been determined. As the V concentration in asphaltenes increases, the V/Ni ratio also increases, a feature that is not characteristic of resins.