# Crude oil and Small-molecule APIs

Crude oil is a raw material for small-molecule APIs; their prices have moved together.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/links/crude-oil-and-small-molecule-apis/

[Crude oil](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/crude_oil/) (energy) and [Small-molecule APIs](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/apis/) (chemical): 2 relationships.

## How they are linked

### 1. Feedstock

*Physical flow · Direct · Crude oil → Small-molecule APIs*

Small-molecule APIs is made from crude oil: it is one of the raw materials its production routes start from.

### 2. Price link: distant feedstock

*Cost and price · Weak · Both ways*

Most API building blocks start from petrochemicals, but many steps, regulation and long contracts separate them from oil. Monthly moves correlate at 0.07 and yearly at -0.11, so oil barely registers in the medicinal chemicals index.

- **0.07** monthly change correlation
- **-0.11** 12-month change correlation
- **0.01** fitted elasticity

Built from the site data on production routes, energy flows, industry value chains, input-output tables and prices.