Historically, crude oil or petroleum prices in the United States have been affected by a variety of global factors. An oil embargo by major oil-producing countries in 1973 led to the first steep increase in crude oil prices, to $12 a barrel. Following the Iran revolution of 1979 and the Iran-Iraq war, crude oil prices rose to $35 a barrel by 1981. Today, trading in oil futures on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) increasingly drives crude oil prices in the US. Increasing consumption has resulted in increasing dependence on imported crude oil supplies.
Trading crude oil futures is one of the ways that you can trade the global oil markets. Daily billions of dollars worth of oil gets traded across the world. Want to join the action and trade crude oil futures contracts? New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is the hub of global energy trading including crude oil. Trading at NYMEX comprises the futures contracts on Dubai Crude Oil, Brent North Sea Crude Oil as well as oil options. The NYMEX futures contract on the light sweet crude oil is the most liquid of all the crude oil contracts.
The API of the brent crude oil is 38.06 degrees. The biggest oil field which has oil producing wells located in Saudi Arabia manufactures light petroleum which varies from 33 degrees of API to 40 degrees of API. The grade that is widely abundant and largely produced is bonny light crude oil.