Snobdds
Elite Member
No that's not the reason.The fact that US crude (and now fuel) is sold internationally does indeed effect the price of fuel. If it were to remain in country, there would be a surplus, thus lowering prices. Whether or not it is the world standard of exchange is secondary to supply leaving the domestic market. And even if that grade of petroleum (and fuel) isn’t the pricing standard, doesn’t mean that international markets don’t compete for those products.
Light sweet crude doesn't have the same hydrocarbons heavy crude does. Light sweet crude is preferred in other parts of the world for it's ability to easily turn into diesel and other lightly refined fuels. Third world countries don't have to spend Billions on refining capability, they import our oil.
Heavy crude has hydrocarbons more apt to needing heavy refining. This also produces a lot of profitable by products like Naphtha, Bitumen, Kerosene etc. We import a lot of heavy crude from the middle east, even though we produce a lot of oil.
So the game is, the US has some of the worlds best refining technology. We can use the heavy crude to make multiple products that we can then sell off to the rest of the world. A lot of profit is held in a barrel of Brent crude than the light sweet stuff. It always about economics and maximizing profits.