What's going on?

The price of a barrel of crude oil continued its recent upward slide on Tuesday to its highest level in four years � a barrel of black gold�s now worth more than $80.

What does this mean?

OPEC � a group of major oil-producing countries � controls a large chunk of the world�s supply of oil, which means it has a big influence on the oil price. On Sunday, the group said that it doesn�t plan to produce more oil unless customers need it � despite the US asking for more supply to push the price of a barrel down.

The US believes that its sanctions on Iran could reduce the country�s ability to export its oil, lowering supply and boosting prices. America�s producing record amounts of crude oil at home, so it�d likely be hard for the country to up its production enough to affect the oil price.

Why should I care?

For markets: Forecasts need oiling.

Major oil movers �n� shakers think the current tug of war between supply and demand could push the price of a barrel to $100 before long (at which point, one analyst forecasts growth in demand would be �annihilated�). But BP says otherwise. The oily beast thinks (like OPEC) that this price hit will be offset by more oil production over time, and that a bigger risk is lower demand (as a result of the trade war) pushing the oil price down next year.

The bigger picture: Well oil be damned.

The International Energy Agency says electric vehicles will make up 13% of all cars on the road worldwide by 2040 � stemming oil usage by 2.5 million barrels of oil per day (tweet this). Plus newer, more efficient cars of the future will use less of the slippery stuff � an estimated 17 million barrels each day by 2040, according to a report by UBS. Oil demand is currently around 25 million barrels a day for passenger vehicles, so new auto technology (that lowers demand) could well push the oil price lower over time.