Oil markets are a complex global system of producing, distributing, trading, and pricing petroleum products used to make diesel, jet fuel, solvents, and more.
Hours of research by our editors, distilled into minutes of clarity.
From drilling to driving, crude oil is processed in refineries and transformed into everyday products like fuel, plastics, lubricants, and cosmetics. The US currently uses about 20 million of those barrels per day.
This guide explains how investing in oil works with in-depth explanations of each of the forces that control oil’s price. Oil is unique as a commodity in part because of OPEC’s role in regulating its price.
This explainer shows oil’s rollercoaster: OPEC-led embargoes in the 1970s, shale surges in the 2000s, and the US flip to becoming a net oil exporter in 2020.
The US has a Strategic Petroleum Reserve that it taps into, releasing barrels into the economy, during times of emergency (think: major storms and wars) to try to stabilize markets.
Technically speaking, crude oil is unrefined petroleum. This article dives into the different ways it’s categorized (by density, sulfur content, and origin), and how the combinations of these types of oil are used.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude experienced volatility in the early 2020s. This chart shows price spikes at the beginning of the pandemic and again when Russia invaded Ukraine.
BP’s market cap has never recovered from the dive it took following the 2010 Deep Water Horizon oil spill. This video details some of BP’s corporate missteps along the way.
Fracking technology has significantly increased how much crude oil the US produces. As more countries adopt fracking technology, there could be an increased downward pressure on prices—although fracking has been widely criticized for its negative environmental impacts.
Experts say oil demand has not yet reached its peak. Recent technological breakthroughs in the oil industry include advances in drilling and extraction, as well as subsurface technologies.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was created to coordinate and unify petroleum policies to secure fair and stable prices. During the pandemic, for instance, the organization pushed through production cuts in an attempt to stabilize prices.
The United States is home to more than 33 million businesses, the vast majority of which are small businesses, with millions being created (and others closing shop) every year. These businesses often rely on loans, provide the goods and services that keep the economy flowing, and sometimes even grow large enough to enter public markets or provide private investment opportunities. Explore key topics central to business and finance, from the role of the Federal Reserve to how initial public offerings work, how millions of American students finance higher education, and more.