Global refining crisis breaks crude oil's link to fuel prices

Crude oil is like the flour used to make bread, and petrol is like the bread.

Usually, if flour gets cheaper, bread gets cheaper too.

But bread is made in special factories called refineries.

Many of these factories are broken because of wars and fighting in faraway places.

Fixing a broken refinery takes many months, like rebuilding a whole kitchen.

So even though flour is cheap, there aren't enough bakeries making bread.

That means petrol and diesel stay expensive at the pump.

The factories that still work are earning extra money because their product is so valuable.

Building new refineries takes years, so this will not change quickly.

That is why car fuel can stay pricey even when oil prices fall.