Energy & Materials

Energy & Materials is a data page on the Macro desk of Glassbox Auditing. Oil, gold and energy supplies, and what they say about growth and fear.

Last updated: 5 Nov 2026.

What is the latest reading?

Aluminium, IMF via FRED: 3,283 as of 1 Sep 2026, +177.9% since Jan 1992. Source: FRED PALUMUSDM.

What is on this page today?

One ounce of gold bought 44.9 barrels of oil on 6 Nov, and 78.5 ounces of silver — Gold $4,075, silver $51.94, WTI $90.83 · 67.2 barrels a year earlier · front-month futures (COMEX and NYMEX, 5 Nov 2026)
Urea: $420 a tonne in October 2026, 6.5% above the same month a year earlier — $394 a tonne a year earlier · monthly average price, in U.S. dollars (World Bank (Commodity Price Data, the Pink Sheet), 30 Oct 2026)
DAP (diammonium phosphate): $803 a tonne in October 2026, 6.5% above the same month a year earlier — $754 a tonne a year earlier · monthly average price, in U.S. dollars (World Bank (Commodity Price Data, the Pink Sheet), 30 Oct 2026)
Potassium chloride (potash): $358 a tonne in October 2026, 1.6% above the same month a year earlier — $352 a tonne a year earlier · monthly average price, in U.S. dollars (World Bank (Commodity Price Data, the Pink Sheet), 30 Oct 2026)
Aluminium: $3,061 a tonne in October 2026, 9.6% above the same month a year earlier — $2,793 a tonne a year earlier · monthly average price, in U.S. dollars (World Bank (Commodity Price Data, the Pink Sheet), 30 Oct 2026)
Brent crude oil: $125.00 a barrel in October 2026, 93.2% above the same month a year earlier — $64.70 a barrel a year earlier · monthly average price, in U.S. dollars (World Bank (Commodity Price Data, the Pink Sheet), 30 Oct 2026)
Strategic Petroleum Reserve: 282.18 million barrels in the week to 30 Oct — -0.40M on the week · -126.9M on a year earlier (EIA, 29 Oct 2026)
U.S. crude oil production: 14.00 million barrels a day in the week to 30 Oct — +0.01M on the week · +0.4M on a year earlier (EIA, 29 Oct 2026)
U.S. oil and gas extraction ran at 148.7 (2017 = 100) in September 2026, +0.8% on a year earlier — Gold and silver mining 68.0 in September 2026 · the Federal Reserve's industrial production indexes, seasonally adjusted (Federal Reserve Board, 29 Sep 2026)
China supplied 67% of the permanent magnets the U.S. imported in the first half of 2026, 65% of rare-earth compounds and 41% of metals — Second half of 2025: 73% for magnets · 64 million magnets a month at $0.61 each · by value, from U.S. customs records (UN Comtrade, 29 Jun 2026)

Where does the data come from?

Items on this page come from COMEX and NYMEX; World Bank (Commodity Price Data, the Pink Sheet); EIA; Federal Reserve Board; UN Comtrade. Each item links to its own source. All sources, how items are checked.

What does this page lead to?

Prices & Inflation (Macro): Gasoline and other fuels are the most volatile part of CPI and follow crude within weeks, so oil swings move headline inflation more than core. (moves the same way; 1-2 months; economy scale) Source: FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis).
Energy Industry (Companies): Higher crude prices raise producers' revenue and drilling budgets, and U.S. output tends to respond within six to twelve months. (moves the same way; 6-12 months; sector scale) Source: EIA, monthly crude oil production.
Auto & Energy (Companies): Rare-earth magnets go into EV and hybrid motors, and China refines most of them, so higher prices or Chinese export limits raise automakers' costs and delay output. (moves the other way; months; sector scale) Source: UN Comtrade (U.S. Census trade data).
Economies & Debt (World Powers): Higher oil prices raise exporters' revenues and budgets while widening importers' trade deficits, so the same move splits oil-producing and oil-importing economies. (either way, depending on the cause; quarters; global scale) Source: IMF World Economic Outlook / DataMapper.
Fuel & Charging (Domestic Intelligence): Crude is about half the retail price of a gallon of gasoline, so a lasting move in WTI reaches state pump prices within a couple of weeks. (moves the same way; 1-2 weeks; economy scale) Source: EIA Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update (weekly retail $/gallon).
Risk Monitor (Briefing): Gold outpacing stocks is what the Risk Monitor's Safe havens area reads as money hiding rather than chasing growth. (moves the same way; same day; economy scale) Source: Yahoo Finance prices.

What feeds this page?

Risk Monitor (Briefing): In broad stress money tends to move into gold and Treasuries, the shift the board's Safe havens area reads. (moves the same way; days to weeks; sector scale) Source: Yahoo Finance prices.
Energy Industry (Companies): The producers and field-service firms listed here set U.S. crude output; their drilling activity moves supply against the oil prices on Energy & Materials. (either way, depending on the cause; months; economy scale) Source: EIA, monthly crude oil production.
Jurisdictions (Domestic Intelligence): States whose output leans on oil and gas (Texas, North Dakota, Alaska, Wyoming) move with crude prices through drilling jobs and severance-tax revenue. (moves the same way; months; sector scale) Source: BEA GDP by state and industry (SAGDP).
Vehicles (Domestic Intelligence): As electric cars take a larger share of the fleet, gasoline use per registered vehicle falls, slowly, since cars stay on the road for well over a decade. (moves the other way; years; economy scale) Source: EIA, Weekly Petroleum Status Report (stocks, refinery runs, product supplied, trade).
World Map (Global Intelligence): Wars and attacks tend to lift gold, held as a store of value when fear rises, and crude when the fighting is near oil fields or supply routes. (moves the same way; same day; global scale) Source: FRED, Brent crude spot price (DCOILBRENTEU, from EIA).
Prices & Inflation (Macro): Gold tends to gain when inflation outruns interest rates, since holding it then costs less in forgone real yield. (moves the same way; months; sector scale) Source: FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis).
Leaders & Policy (World Powers): Higher geopolitical risk tends to lift gold, a traditional haven, and central banks outside the U.S. camp have added gold to their reserves. (moves the same way; days; global scale) Source: Yahoo Finance prices.
Central Banks (World Powers): A rate gap in the Fed's favour tends to lift the dollar, and a stronger dollar tends to lower the dollar prices of oil, gold and metals. (moves the other way; weeks; global scale) Source: FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis).