Crude oil is a naturally-occurring substance found in certain rock formations in the earth and can be considered the most important commodity in the world today. The product and its derivatives can be found in many application of modern life from transportation to plastics.

Currently, there are two major benchmarks for world oil prices, West Texas Intermediate (WTI for short) and Brent crude oil. Both are light, sweet crude oils although WTI is relatively sweeter and lighter than its European counterpart. As a result of this, WTI often trades at a premium, usually by just a few dollars a barrel. However, due to a Libyan crisis, which has decreased the supply of light, sweet crude in the European region, and a supply glut at the main storage facility of WTI in Oklahoma, the premium/discount situation has changed and now Brent is more expensive than WTI.