Want to keep up with oil prices? Here it is: the Oil Price Per Barrel.
The Oil Price as quoted in news generally refers to the spot price of either WTI/Light Crude as traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) for delivery at Cushing, Oklahoma, or of Brent as traded on the Intercontinental Exchange for delivery at Sullom Voe.
The oil price per barrel of is highly dependent on both its grade, determined by factors such as its specific gravity or API and its sulphur content, and its location.
The vast majority of oil is not traded on an exchange but on an over-the-counter basis. Other important benchmarks include Dubai, Tapis, and the OPEC basket. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) uses the imported refiner acquisition cost, the weighted average cost of all oil imported into the US, as its "world oil price".
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was formed to control the price of oil, and essentially worked as a cartel.
Oil price has undergone a significant decrease since the record peak it reached in July 2008. On December 23, 2008, WTI crude oil spot price fell to US$30.28 a barrel, the lowest since the global financial crisis began, and has been trading between US$35 a barrel and US$60 a barrel in 2009.
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