Often billed as the arena for the trader’s trader, energy futures display certain fundamentals that set them apart from other commodities trading. Indeed, very literally what fuels the world, energy futures trading is a game with high stakes, as it deals in non-renewable resources.

Sugar and wheat can be seasonally cultivated, but oil and gas reserves need to be discovered and extracted as a single project before moving on. Once lifted, oil, gas and coal will never be replenished in a meaningful time frame. As a result, these commodities remain highly desirable and are readily impacted by global events.

Energy futures from the coalface

Price directions can show volatility in energy futures, as a host of potential inputs and events may trigger fluctuations. Political unrest or resolution are prime contributors, as are the less severe bouts of politicking between nations, as well as fundamental supply and demand dynamics.

As each country across the globe finds itself in its own status quo on oil in particular, massive consumers like emerging China and India contribute to a sense of scarcity, with accompanying constant price pressure.

Energy futures are fundamentally different to other commodities future. Everyone needs to eat, its true, but they don't have to eat wheat. The same cannot be said of energy commodities, as there are limited options and they are employed extensively.

In a way, this makes energy commodities "easy" to trade. Business doesn't get better than selling everything one produce. No one dumps unwanted oil. On the other hand, by the exact same token the arena is equally fraught too. As such essential, basic inputs into every nation's well-being, traders encounter strong underpinning alongside bold moves in the energy commodities markets.

All valuable commodities demonstrate that value in trade. Only energy commodities, however, face a market hunger that outstrips current demand. Although the savvy of some regulation on price and supply exists, all energy commodities are hotly contested, albeit with a fairly stable range. There exists a low-key but persistent wrestling for options on energy commodities, making for the kind of trading opportunities only market volatility can present.

The energy markets typically manifest an absence of radical price spikes, due to constant demand and the potential for serious social fallout in the event of short supply. To some degree oil, coal and gas make everyone a gentleman. Vested interests have also struck a fine balance between supply, demand and price, not looking to spur competitive alternative energy sources any more than necessary. We might all need cleaner and more abundant energy, but there's no sense in rocking the boat if you're BP, for example.

More than any other commodity, fossil fuels impact democratically on most human lives on earth. The price of these fuels have an impact on the cost of mobility clothing, groceries, and our connectivity to an online world.

Especially in Northern climates, commercial and residential heating and cooling are also hugely impacted by energy commodities' availability and price. A constant dynamic with this commodities trade is the fact that these resources are expensive to both discover and extract. As resources shrink, improved technologies allow for easier discovery and more efficient extraction, but the constant backdrop of scarcity persistently offsets downward pressure on prices that these improvements might enable.

Trade energy: crude oil

Petroleum and petroleum products lead the pack of precious fossil fuel energy commodities. From crude oil comes an assortment of refined oil products that include gasoline , jet fuel, diesel, heating and lubricating oils, as well as asphalt. Closely aligned are hydrocarbon gas liquids, being liquid gas derived of both crude oil and natural gas. Alkenes like propylene and ethylene, and alkanes such as butane and propane fall into this category.

Trading energy futures is set to change in coming times. Solar and wind power are quickly becoming mainstream alternatives that lack the dirt and dirty politics of oil, coal and gas. Another somewhat obscure energy source manifests in ongoing geothermal harnessing. Heat from deep within the earth itself can offset some of our dependence on existing fossil fuels. Wind power is possibly the cleanest and most promising resource, with wave power another contender for clean renewable energy too.

Traders have been quick to recognise the advent of biomass energy, which is energy usually extracted from plant tissues, possibly due to its similarity to crude oil. It already accounts for some 6% of US energy consumption, most commonly encountered as ethanol derived of sugar or grain crops.

Ethanol feels most familiar to traders as it presents itself as a modest substitute, one that can maintain the old systems without too much reworking. Water has long been the power behind hydro-electrics, but more nuanced and innovative harnessing of natural water flows are also manifesting as the old order shrinks.