How fuel and energy prices actually work
The price you pay at the pump is the end of a long chain that starts with crude oil traded on global markets and ends with local taxes, station margins and the competition on your street. Understanding the pieces makes the live figures on this page, and the prices you see on the road, far easier to read.
Crude oil: Brent and WTI
Almost every fuel price traces back to crude oil, and two benchmarks dominate the headlines. Brent, priced from North Sea oil, is the reference for most of Europe, Africa and Asia. WTI (West Texas Intermediate) is the United States benchmark. When you hear that "oil is up," it usually means one of these has moved. The two normally track each other within a few dollars a barrel; when the gap widens, it signals regional supply or transport bottlenecks.
From barrel to pump: the crack spread
Crude has to be refined into petrol, diesel, jet fuel and other products. The gap between the price of crude and the products made from it is called the crack spread: essentially the refining margin. A cold winter that lifts diesel and heating-oil demand, or a refinery outage, can push pump prices up even when crude is flat. That is why petrol and diesel do not always move together.
Why two countries pay very different prices
Take the same barrel of oil and it becomes cheap fuel in one country and expensive fuel in another. The biggest reason is tax. Excise duty and VAT often make up half or more of the retail price across much of Europe, while taxes are far lower in the United States and parts of the Middle East. Exchange rates matter too: oil is bought in dollars, so a weaker local currency raises the cost of every litre. Distance from refineries, local competition and whether a station sits on a motorway or a back street do the rest.
Petrol versus diesel
Petrol (gasoline) and diesel are refined and taxed differently, so their prices diverge by country and season. Diesel powers most freight, so its price tracks the wider economy; petrol is more sensitive to the summer driving season. In some countries diesel is cheaper than petrol, in others the reverse. Always compare the specific fuel your vehicle actually uses.
How to use this page
The live figures above show current crude benchmarks and national average retail prices from official sources, refreshed regularly. Use the region comparison to see where fuel is relatively cheap or expensive in a common unit, and the currency converter to translate a foreign price into money you understand. Then open the live map to see what real stations near a place are actually charging. Market averages set the backdrop, but the pump price on your route is what you pay.
These explanations are general and educational. Market prices move constantly. Always confirm the current price at the station before you rely on it.