Bitumen price per ton
In this article, we tend to discuss the factors which impact the bitumen price per ton, bitumen and oil imports, exports and pricing strategy in the world. First, we need to know a little about the oil market and its categories, since bitumen is one of the oil by-products.
The global crude oil market
Crude oil, black gold, has become one of the most important materials in the industry since the 1950s in advanced societies, especially the transportation industry. Besides, the price of crude oil depends on supply and demand. But what matters to traders are the factors that affect supply and demand.
Before beginning to explain the factors influencing ,
it is better to first get acquainted with the types of crude oil.
Basically, crude oil has several categories according to their characteristics:
- Sweet crude oil: Oil with a sulfur content of less than 0.5%.
- Sour crude oil: Oil with a sulfur content of more than 0.5%.
- Heavy crude oil: Oil that has a high viscosity, a high percentage of oxygen and nitrogen, and also a high density. This type of oil mostly exists in Canada and Venezuela.
With these compounds, there are approximately 161 types of oil in the world. But commercially crude oil has three distinctive categories:
- Brent oil, which is mostly from Europe, is sweet and light.
- WTI oil, which is from the western United States, is a sweet and light oil that is usually a few dollars cheaper than Brent oil.
- Lastly, OPEC oil, which is heavier than Brent oil and lighter than WTI oil, is usually priced between WTI and Brent oil.
The countries with the largest oil reserves
exports have a greater impact on oil prices. First,
let’s take a look at the largest oil producers. As you may know, Iran is the fourth-largest oil producer
and it can play an important role in oil prices and bitumen price per ton. That is why any sanctions
imposed on Iran’s oil exports will have a direct impact on world oil prices.
But more important and influential than Iran are a group of countries that have joined an organization
called OPEC to further control global oil prices to keep oil prices high by controlling their supply.
Importantly, the members of the OPEC group, which includes Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Qatar, Venezuela
and some other countries, account for approximately 75% of the world’s total oil reserves
and 50% of the world’s total oil production.
That is why oil prices tend to rise with every meeting that OPEC leaders hold.
