Oil News & Analysis Today

Oil has been at the core of human progress for thousands of years, first used as lamp fuel in ancient times and later becoming the lifeblood of modern industry once cars appeared, turning into the most demanded energy source and a key factor in both economic growth and global conflicts. In today’s market it is traded as crude before being refined into gasoline or other products, and the type and quality depend on the field it is extracted from. More than 200 grades exist, but the benchmarks that set global pricing are Brent, West Texas Intermediate, and Dubai/Oman, with Urals also traded in high volumes. The price is shaped not just by supply and demand but also by characteristics such as density, sulfur content, transport costs, and above all by market activity on exchanges like NYMEX and ICE, where futures dominate trading. Oil is quoted almost exclusively in US dollars, making the dollar-oil link so strong that crude is often treated like a currency in itself, with political and social factors playing as much of a role as economics. Beyond futures, retail traders also access oil through Forex, where it’s bought and sold as CFDs with leverage, though this carries high risks alongside the potential for fast profits.