Different crude oils can sell for dramatically different prices with sometimes far-reaching effects on the energy industry—from impacts on oil producers’ production decisions to oil refineries’ profit margins. The global refining sector‘s expanding ability to process low-quality crude oil and a growing supply of high-quality shale oil have significantly reduced price differences between low- and high-quality crude oils since the Great Recession. These fundamental changes in the oil industry appear to have permanently affected the size of many quality-related oil price differentials. More recently, U.S. sanctions on ... (full story)