what s the difference between crude oil petroleum and petroleum products 
crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons found in liquid form underground and brought to the surface for refining into fuel and other products petroleum products are processed in refineries from crude oil and other liquids petroleum is a broad term that includes both crude oil and petroleum products 9the bottom linewest texas intermediate is a high quality crude oil sourced in west texas as one of the world s foremost sources of crude oil wti is a benchmark for the u s oil industry and investors when you hear a reference to crude oil prices in a business report it s the price of west texas intermediate that is being quoted 