Energy Markets

Energy markets are the systems where fuels and electricity are bought, sold, and priced. They cover oil, natural gas, coal, and power sold over the grid. Prices move with supply, demand, weather, and world events, and government shapes the rules through regulators, trade policy, and public ownership of some resources.

Readers usually ask what moves the price of gasoline, heating fuel, and electricity. They want to know how wholesale and retail prices differ, how markets are overseen, and what government can and cannot do to affect costs. They also ask how supply, exports, and production decisions reach the price at the pump.