Brent crude oil, or BRENT, is the world's largest and most traded oil benchmark. BRENT tracks the price of a sweet light crude oil extracted from 19 oil fields located in the North Sea.

Industries prefer this oil type along with WTI as both have relatively light density and low sulphur content. This chemical composition makes it easy to refine the oil to diesel fuel and gasoline.

However, BRENT’s main advantage to WTI is that it is produced at sea, which makes it easier to transport to other countries compared to its land-based competitors. It is also the price benchmark for oil produced in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

As oil has high demand from all over the world, its prices are affected by many factors, such as:

Increased demand for heating during winter or decreased demand because of an economic slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Geopolitical problems that affect supply chains. For instance, the Russian invasion of Ukraine affected the oil and gas markets, driving up oil prices after months on a downwards trend.

OPEC, a group made up of major oil exporting countries, namely Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela; collectively control 40% of the world's oil supply with the goal of regulating the supply in global markets. Events that disrupt supply or production in these countries tend to cause upward or downward movements in the oil price.

Popular commodities to trade