Oil: The Barrel That Runs the World
Oil as a system, as of October 2026: what oil is, where it lies, and why its grade sets its price; a history told through its shocks, from Titusville to the negative price of 2020; who pumps it and what a barrel costs; the majors, the national oil companies, the service firms, and the traders; refining, petrochemicals, and the things made from oil; how the price is set, from futures to the physical cargo to the pump; OPEC and OPEC+; the Iran war's shock to the Strait of Hormuz in 2026; oil in the economy and in food, from fertilizer and farm diesel to packaging and biofuels; petrostates, sanctions, and the shadow fleet; America as producer, consumer, and keeper of a strategic reserve; and the argument over peak demand. Where the field argues, each side's case comes before the course's reading.