Crude oil is a key barometer of global economic activity. Prices are shaped by supply and demand, geopolitics, OPEC+ production policy and macroeconomic data — driving significant volatility and offering rich short-term and swing trading opportunities. Brent crude, sourced from the North Atlantic’s Brent field and traded on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in London and the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), serves as the pricing benchmark for more than 60% of the world’s physical crude, with major users concentrated among refineries in northwest Europe and the US east coast. WTI, meanwhile, is the more commonly used benchmark in North America, with the US pricing domestic crude off the WTI contract listed on NYMEX. Trading oil as a CFD means you’re speculating purely on price movement — no need to take physical delivery.