Crude oil: Relationships

Every element and industry that Crude oil is linked to, and how. Each pair has its own card explaining the relationships between the two.

Tankers, barges and fuel trucks: About three-quarters of the world's oil travels by sea, so tanker capacity, chokepoints and sanctions decide how much a barrel costs on arrival. When routes lengthen or close, freight can rise from about USD 2 a barrel to several times that within weeks. (researched)
Benzene: Benzene is extracted from naphtha-derived streams in refineries and crackers, so crude oil sets its cost floor; producers earn the benzene to naphtha spread, which turned negative in March 2026 when naphtha spiked. (researched)
Combustion road vehicles: Road engines burn close to half of the world's oil, so the size and fuel efficiency of the combustion fleet is the largest single driver of crude demand. Electric vehicles displaced about 1.7 mb/d in 2025 and the IEA expects about 5 mb/d by 2030, while India adds more new oil demand to 2030 than any other country, led by transport fuels. (researched)
Paraxylene: Paraxylene is separated from refinery reformate made from crude-derived naphtha, so crude sets its cost and producers earn the paraxylene to naphtha spread, which needs about $300 to 350 a tonne to pay. (researched)
Carbon black: Carbon black is made by partly burning heavy aromatic oil from crude refining, and tyre makers buy much of it on crude-linked formulas, so oil prices pass through to it with a lag of about a quarter. (researched)
Ethylene: Outside the US and the Gulf, much ethylene is cracked from crude-derived naphtha, so oil sets its cost; naphtha crackers yield as little as 30% ethylene and are the high-cost supply, now squeezed by Asian overcapacity. (researched)
Fuel stocks and strategic reserves: Strategic reserves are crude held back for emergencies, so they are worth what crude is worth and matter most when supply breaks. IEA members must hold 90 days of net imports and in March 2026 agreed their largest ever release, 400 million barrels; India's caverns hold 5.33 Mt, about 9.5 days of need, within some 74 days of total cover. (researched)
Palm oil: Indonesia blends palm biodiesel into diesel under a mandate funded by export levies, which moved from B40 to B50 from July 2026, so the gap between palm oil and gasoil prices, the POGO spread, decides how costly the mandate is; high oil prices make palm biodiesel competitive and support palm prices. (researched)
Propylene: Most propylene is a by-product of cracking crude-derived naphtha and of refinery catalytic crackers, so oil sets its cost, but propane dehydrogenation is a growing route that loosens the link. (researched)
Public administration, defence and security: Governments both burn oil, above all in their armed forces, and live off it: India's petroleum sector paid about ₹7.58 lakh crore to central and state exchequers in 2024-25, so an oil shock hits public budgets through tax cuts, state oil company losses and defence fuel bills at once. (researched)
Refining and reforming: Refineries are crude's customer and crude is their largest cost, so product prices track crude closely and refiners live on the gap between them, the crack spread. In 2026 that gap blew out, with the US Gulf Coast diesel crack above USD 100 a barrel, while India, which imports about 90% of its crude, is one of the world's large product exporters. (researched)
Sugar: Brazil's cane mills choose each season how much cane to turn into sugar or ethanol, and ethanol competes with petrol, so oil and petrol prices pull cane away from sugar; in India the government sets ethanol prices, which weakens that market link. (researched)
Textiles and leather: Polyester, made from oil-derived PTA and MEG, was 59% of the world's fibre in 2024, so crude prices feed straight into the cost of most textiles and decide how cheap synthetic fibre is against cotton. (researched)
Unconventional oil and gas: Shale and other unconventional oil is crude sold into the same market, but its output would fall by more than 35% within a year if drilling stopped, so it depends on continuous drilling and responds to price within months. US tight oil made the United States the largest producer, at a record 13.6 mb/d in 2025, and new-well breakevens of about USD 61 to 70 a barrel in 2025 mark the price range where US supply growth starts or stalls. (researched)
Construction and infrastructure: Road building runs on two crude oil products, bitumen for the surface and diesel for the machines, so crude price shocks raise highway costs; India now shares that risk with contractors through escalation compensation. (researched)
Natural rubber: Synthetic rubber, made from oil and gas derived monomers, supplies just over half of the world's rubber, so crude oil sets the price of natural rubber's main alternative; but tyres need both, which keeps substitution limited and the price link partial. (researched)
Transport and logistics: Fuel is the largest single cost in moving goods, 42.1% of road freight expenses in India and 31.4% of airline costs forecast for 2026, so crude prices pass quickly into freight rates through surcharges and squeeze carriers' margins when they cannot. (researched)
Conventional oil and gas production: Energy flows from crude oil to conventional oil and gas production; conventional oil and gas production needs crude oil; their prices have moved together.
ABS: Crude oil is a raw material for ABS; their prices have moved together.
Acrylic acid: Crude oil is a raw material for acrylic acid; their prices have moved together.
Acrylonitrile: Crude oil is a raw material for acrylonitrile; their prices have moved together.
Bisphenol A: Crude oil is a raw material for bisphenol A; their prices have moved together.
Butadiene: Crude oil is a raw material for butadiene; their prices have moved together.
Ethylene oxide: Crude oil is a raw material for ethylene oxide; their prices have moved together.
Flavours and fragrances: Crude oil is a raw material for flavours and fragrances; their prices have moved together.
High-density polyethylene: Crude oil is a raw material for high-density polyethylene; their prices have moved together.
Insecticides: Crude oil is a raw material for insecticides; their prices have moved together.
Isopropanol: Crude oil is a raw material for isopropanol; their prices have moved together.
Linear alkylbenzene: Crude oil is a raw material for linear alkylbenzene; their prices have moved together.
MTBE: Crude oil is a raw material for MTBE; their prices have moved together.
Oil and product pipelines: Oil and product pipelines needs crude oil; their prices have moved together.
PET resin: Crude oil is a raw material for PET resin; their prices have moved together.
Paints and coatings: Crude oil is a raw material for paints and coatings; their prices have moved together.
Pharma starting materials and intermediates: Crude oil is a raw material for pharma starting materials and intermediates; their prices have moved together.
Phenol and acetone: Crude oil is a raw material for phenol and acetone; their prices have moved together.
Plasticisers: Crude oil is a raw material for plasticisers; their prices have moved together.
Polycarbonate: Crude oil is a raw material for polycarbonate; their prices have moved together.
Polyester fibre: Crude oil is a raw material for polyester fibre; their prices have moved together.
Polyethylene (LDPE, LLDPE): Crude oil is a raw material for polyethylene (LDPE, LLDPE); their prices have moved together.
Polypropylene: Crude oil is a raw material for polypropylene; their prices have moved together.
Polystyrene and EPS: Crude oil is a raw material for polystyrene and EPS; their prices have moved together.
Propylene oxide: Crude oil is a raw material for propylene oxide; their prices have moved together.
Purified terephthalic acid: Crude oil is a raw material for purified terephthalic acid; their prices have moved together.
Small-molecule APIs: Crude oil is a raw material for small-molecule APIs; their prices have moved together.
Styrene: Crude oil is a raw material for styrene; their prices have moved together.
Styrene-butadiene rubber: Crude oil is a raw material for styrene-butadiene rubber; their prices have moved together.
Surfactants: Crude oil is a raw material for surfactants; their prices have moved together.
Toluene: Crude oil is a raw material for toluene; their prices have moved together.
Unsaturated polyester resins: Crude oil is a raw material for unsaturated polyester resins; their prices have moved together.
Vitamins: Crude oil is a raw material for vitamins; their prices have moved together.
Acrylics (PMMA): Crude oil is a raw material for acrylics (PMMA).
Adhesives and sealants: Crude oil is a raw material for adhesives and sealants.
Advanced geothermal: Their prices have moved together.
Aerospace and defence: Aerospace and defence depends on crude oil.
Aviation propulsion: Their prices have moved together.
Bananas: Their prices have moved together.
Battery anode materials: Crude oil is a raw material for battery anode materials.
Bioethanol: Their prices have moved together.
Biomass and biofuel stores: Their prices have moved together.
Building materials: Building materials depends on crude oil.
CNG, LPG and biogas distribution: Their prices have moved together.
Caprolactam: Crude oil is a raw material for caprolactam.
Construction chemicals: Crude oil is a raw material for construction chemicals.
Copper: Their prices have moved together.
Cotton: Their prices have moved together.
Data centres and cloud: Data centres and cloud depends on crude oil.
Dyes: Crude oil is a raw material for dyes.
E-commerce and digital marketplaces: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on crude oil.
EPDM: Crude oil is a raw material for EPDM.
Electrical equipment: Electrical equipment depends on crude oil.
Energy in farming: Their prices have moved together.
Epoxy resins: Crude oil is a raw material for epoxy resins.
Fishmeal & shrimp: Their prices have moved together.
Food and beverage processing: Food and beverage processing depends on crude oil.
Gold: Their prices have moved together.
Hospitality and tourism: Hospitality and tourism depends on crude oil.
Household and personal care: Household and personal care depends on crude oil.
Internal combustion engines and gensets: Their prices have moved together.
LNG chain: Their prices have moved together.
Lubricant additives: Crude oil is a raw material for lubricant additives.
Machinery and equipment: Machinery and equipment depends on crude oil.
Monoethylene glycol: Crude oil is a raw material for monoethylene glycol.
Natural gas: Their prices have moved together.
Nylon (PA6, PA66): Crude oil is a raw material for nylon (PA6, PA66).
Oilfield and mining chemicals: Crude oil is a raw material for oilfield and mining chemicals.
Organic pigments: Crude oil is a raw material for organic pigments.
Paracetamol: Crude oil is a raw material for paracetamol.
Plastic and rubber products: Plastic and rubber products depends on crude oil.
Polybutadiene rubber: Crude oil is a raw material for polybutadiene rubber.
Polymer additives: Crude oil is a raw material for polymer additives.
Polyurethanes (MDI, TDI, polyols): Crude oil is a raw material for polyurethanes (MDI, TDI, polyols).
Rail traction: Their prices have moved together.
Rapeseed: Their prices have moved together.
Renewable diesel and SAF: Their prices have moved together.
Rubber chemicals: Crude oil is a raw material for rubber chemicals.
Specialty amines and ethanolamines: Crude oil is a raw material for specialty amines and ethanolamines.
Sunflower: Their prices have moved together.
Telecommunications: Telecommunications depends on crude oil.
Thermal coal: Their prices have moved together.
Vehicles, ships, rail, aircraft: Vehicles, ships, rail, aircraft depends on crude oil.
Waste and recycling: Waste and recycling depends on crude oil.
Wood products: Wood products depends on crude oil.