Sour Crude

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Sweet crude used to be the desired darling of the crude oil trade with demand exceeding supply which would result in higher prices while sour crude was looked down upon as being more dirtier, more abundant and harder to handle and refine which resulted in lower prices. This made many refineries built to be made to handle sour crude more than sweet crude.  Then came the oil shale fracking boom in the U.S. which made sweet crude more abundantly available which drove prices down for sweet crude.  Also, add U.S. sanctions and trade restrictions against Iran and Venezuela which mostly produce sour crude along with the recent attacks against Saudi crude oil production which also produces sour crude and you have a tight squeeze on sour crude which has driven it up in price and makes it more desirable for the many more refiners that refine sour crude.  A reverse in fortunes?

Edited September 20, 2019 by canadas canadas