When the price of gas rises, it impacts how people travel, how goods are shipped and how people formulate their budgets. When home heating prices climb, people have to decide whether or not they can afford to turn up their thermostats.

When various goods have become more expensive because their components also cost more, people have to make difficult choices on what to buy.

How Does Crude Oil Affect Gas Prices?

The reason for the above price fluctuations is oil. The price of oil affects individual spending choices. It forces companies to make difficult decisions. It can even change relations between countries. Oil is perhaps the world's most important natural resource. But what makes it so important? Why is it constantly in the headlines?

And why is the price of oil constantly in flux? In this article we'll take a look at where oil comes from. How Oil Was Made No one knows exactly how oil was created. But there are two theories that explain how the substance may have originated. Where is Oil Found? Oil can be found on all of the earth's continents. Some places, like Australia, have very little. But countries that have large reservoirs of oil find themselves as key players on the world stage.

After all, they are sitting on top of pools of one of the most important resources in the world. Experts say that there are about 1. If you've ever read anything about the Middle East, then you certainly know that it is the center of the world's oil supply. The nation that has the most oil - in not just the Middle East, but the entire world - is Saudi Arabia.

The kingdom, also the spiritual home of Islam, reportedly has more than billion barrels. The other Middle Eastern nations with sizable quantities all have about one-half of Saudi Arabia's reserves. They include Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. In total, the region's vast supplies of oil make them an integral part of the world economy. Learn more about OPEC and oil supply in A Guide To Investing In Oil Markets.

It may shock you to learn which country has the second-largest amount of proven oil reserves in the world.

The answer is Canada, which has close to billion barrels within its borders. However, much of these reserves are located in Alberta's " sand pits ", a terrain that makes the oil harder to extract from the earth than it is in other countries.

However, technological innovations are expected, over time, to make extracting oil located in this kind of terrain easier. Learn more about the relationship between Canada and oil in Commodity Prices And Currency Movements.

Refining Before oil can be used, it has to be broken down in a process known as "refining. In America, many but certainly not all of the oil refineries are located in the GulfCoast region. This is a reason why oil costs tend to fluctuate during storm season - a large hurricane, for example, puts oil supplied at the refineries at risk of destruction. Oil companies are often synonymous with environmental problems in many people's minds.

Read about oil producers that have attempted to mislead the public in The Green Marketing Machine. Refining oil works in an easy way. Crude oil is put into a boiler and turned into a vapor.

From there, the vapor moves into a distillation chamber where it is turned back into a liquid. Different types of oil are formed depending upon the temperature they were distilled at. Gasoline, for example, is distilled at cooler temperatures than residual oils that are used to make products, such as asphalt and tar. After the many substances made from oil are processed, they arrive in various products to do a little bit of everything, from heating our homes to powering our cars.

It makes sense that the world's biggest economies would use the most oil. America, which has the world's biggest gross domestic product GDPalso consumes more oil than any other nation. The phrase "America's dependence on foreign oil" is mentioned often in the media, particularly in reference to American imports from the Middle East. However, this statement doesn't accurately tell who supplies the United States. The country that exports the most oil to America is Canada, with Saudi Arabia second.

The European Union EU also uses a large percentage of the world's reserves, going through approximately Other nations who have large, established economies - Japan, Canada and South Korea rank high on the list of the world's biggest oil consumers.

But the one country that may play the biggest role in world oil consumption is China. China currently ranks as the third-biggest oil consumer on original binary options strategy 60 seconds planet.

But with its dynamic and fast-growing economy, China's usage of oil is forecast to grow exponentially. Chinese analysts have said that China's demand for oil grows by 7. This increased demand - along with the growing energy needs of countries like India and Brazil - has been a contributing factor in the rise of oil prices over the past few years.

Forex Trading in India - Legal or Illegal - A Critical Analysis

For more on China's role in the oil and gas markets, read What Determines Gas Prices? These countries act as the demand for the world's oil futures trading strategies supplies. However, the way oil is priced does not reflect that of the free market. To learn about the most common way goods' prices are determined, see our Economics Basics tutorial.

OPEC One body has great influence over the worldwide price oil futures trading tutorial india oil.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries OPECmore commonly known as OPEC, is a cartel comprising 12 of the world's biggest oil-producing nations, including all of the major Middle Eastern states, Venezuela and Nigeria. The major oil producers not in OPEC include Russia, Canada and the United States. Since OPEC's nations produce so much of the world's oil supply, they can manipulate the price forex strategy ten pdf download barrel depending upon how many barrels per day the group will sell on the oil futures trading tutorial india oil msn stock markets. If the group wants the price to rise - in order to make more money - they can reduce the amount of oil contributed to the world market.

And if they want the price to dip - high energy prices drive down demand from OPEC's consumers - they can release more barrels to the market. While Canada, Russia, America and other producers can also increase supply, they cannot affect world prices nearly as much as OPEC can and does. For more on how oil prices end up as your price at the pump, see Why You Can't Influence Gas Prices.

Types of Oil and Pricing One might assume there is only one type of oil, but that's far from the truth - there are different types, each with its own consistency, chemical breakdown and potential for use. But since there are so many forms of oil, why does the media give only one price for a barrel?

This is because oil traders have selected the most widely used types of oil to determine the option box arbitrage per barrel. For instance, one common type of oil found and used in America is called West Texas Intermediate WTI.

Swap brokers forex Texas Intermediate's popularity is due to it being a "light and sweet " oil, which is easy to break down in the refining process. Since this oil is purchased quite frequently, it is used as an industry standard.

For more, read What Determines Oil Prices?

Futures Trading India, Trade NSE Futures Contract, Learn Future Trading

Other price benchmarks are used in other parts of the world. Most European nations use the Brent Blendfound in the North Sea, as their benchmark price.

Another heavily used benchmark is the OPEC basketwhich combines the prices of several other popular types of oil from around the world into a "price basket ". And while oil can be purchased directly in what is called the spot marketthe commonly cited price per barrel does not reflect what a customer pays. Instead, the price bandied about do banks make money on short sales been sold on the futures market.

In America, WTI crude-oil futures are traded through the New York Mercantile Exchange NYMEX. European oil futures are sold through IntercontinentalExchange's London branch. Globex is another popular commodities market where oil futures change hands. Get an education on how futures work at Futures Fundamentalsand learn about the oil futures market in Become An Oil And Gas Futures Detective.

Conclusion Oil is one of the world's most important commodities, and as a result, the nations that control the bulk of the world's supply have and exercise a great deal of power over its availability. The supply of oil in the world market has an impact on its price, and the fluctuations are passed on to consumers, especially in nations that use a lot of oil, such as the U.

Oil prices are also determined by quality and ease of forex services in bangalore. Investors have the option of investing in oil futures, which themselves have an influence on the price of oil that is reported in the media.

All in all, the oil market is quite complex, and a better understanding of how the oil gets from the ground to you, in all its forms, will help you to understand and deal with fluctuating prices. For further reading, check out Getting A Grip On The Cost Of Gas. Dictionary Term Of The Day. A measure of what it costs an investment company to operate a mutual fund. Latest Videos PeerStreet Offers New Way to Bet on Housing New to Buying Bitcoin? This Mistake Could Cost You Guides Stock Basics Economics Basics Options Basics Exam Prep Series 7 Exam CFA Level 1 Series 65 Exam.

Sophisticated content for financial advisors around investment strategies, industry trends, and advisor education. How Does Crude Oil Affect Gas Prices?

Forex | Indices | Commodities | Futures | CFDs | Automated Trading | ICM

By Gregory Gethard Share. The first theory suggests that oil is a fossil fuel - meaning it is composed of dead plants and animals that lived hundreds of millions of years ago. After decomposing over the eons, the chemical compounds of the remains broke down and formed what we now call oil. Read more about alternatives to fossil fuels in The Biofuels Debate Heats Up.

Some scientists believe in another theory. Twentieth-century Russian scientists proposed the "abiotic" theory, which states that oil comes from near the earth's core, where it eventually flows, much like lava, into puddles underneath the earth's crust. Other nations with large reservoirs of oil include: Libya Venezuela Nigeria Mexico Indonesia the EU nations Brazil China Refining Before oil can be used, it has to be broken down in a process known as "refining.

Strategic oil reserves are one of the least known and least understood national security measures in the United States. Low oil prices are here to stay for some time. Which economies will benefit or lose from the low oil price regime?

Oil production from both OPEC and non-OPEC groups are assumed to affect oil prices. A reality check with historical study of whether and how these groups impact oil prices. With low oil prices affecting just about everyone, from citizens to corporations to entire nations, we look at who wins and who loses with the price drop.

Many oil-producing countries are feeling the pinch as oil The recent spike in the price of oil has once again drawn our attention to the importance of a ready supply of oil to our modern economy. Oil has made headlines for its plummeting prices this year. When will prices rise again? Find out how to take advantage of this market without having to open a futures account. Learn about the oil industry and how crude oil effects the prices of oil stock. Understand if now is a good time to purchase oil stock.

Find out how to invest and protect your investments in this slippery sector. Discover how OPEC, demand and supply, natural disasters, production costs and political instability are some of the major Learn the roles that decreased global demand, new supply sources in North America and actions taken by Saudi Arabia played Learn whether the stock market and oil prices will continue their highly correlated price relationship or decouple again Discover how much influence OPEC has on the price of oil.

OPEC looks to support the price of oil by coordinating supply cuts Learn how the price of oil has a direct relationship with Venezuela's economy. High oil prices result in good times for the An expense ratio is determined through an annual A hybrid of debt and equity financing that is typically used to finance the expansion of existing companies.

A period of time in which all factors of production and costs are variable. In the long run, firms are able to adjust all A legal agreement created by the courts between two parties who did not have a previous obligation to each other.

A macroeconomic theory to explain the cause-and-effect relationship between rising wages and rising prices, or inflation. A statistical technique used to measure and quantify the level of financial risk within a firm or investment portfolio over No thanks, I prefer not making money.

Content Library Articles Terms Videos Guides Slideshows FAQs Calculators Chart Advisor Stock Analysis Stock Simulator FXtrader Exam Prep Quizzer Net Worth Calculator. Work With Investopedia About Us Advertise With Us Write For Us Contact Us Careers. Get Free Newsletters Newsletters. All Rights Reserved Terms Of Use Privacy Policy.