What's the difference between Brent and WTI?
WTI is different from Brent: \ x0d \ x0d \ The oil quoted in oil pricing is called benchmark oil. The selection of benchmark oil is regional and closely related to the location of delivery warehouse. The price of crude oil exported from the Middle East to Europe mainly refers to the price of Brent crude oil in the North Sea; The price of crude oil exported to North America mainly refers to WTI price; The price of crude oil exported to Asia mainly refers to the prices of Oman and Dubai. \ \x0d\ \x0d\WTI is well known because the United States is the largest oil consumer, and WTI spot contract is regarded by many investors as the benchmark price to measure the change of crude oil price in the international energy market, and many media also take WTI as the representative price when describing the trend of crude oil price. \ x0d \ x0d \ Crude oil price can well reflect the market supply and demand of Cushing, Oklahoma, USA, the world's largest oil trading and logistics center, but it is far from the refineries in the southern coastal areas of the United States. Therefore, this price cannot reflect the supply and demand trend of the crude oil market in the Gulf of Mexico in the United States, nor can it truly reflect the crude oil market outside the United States. \ x0d \ x0d \1On June 23rd, 1988, London International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) launched Brent crude oil futures contract, which is considered as a "highly flexible risk aversion and trading tool", ranking among the three international crude oil price benchmarks, making London one of the three international crude oil futures trading centers. Brent crude oil futures and spot market constitute Brent crude oil pricing system, covering up to 80% of the world crude oil trading volume. \ x0d \ \ x0d \ 201kloc-0/Saudi Aramco stop using WTI index. WTI only reflects the supply and demand of crude oil market in the United States, or more accurately, it reflects the inventory of Cushing crude oil in Oklahoma, the main delivery warehouse of NYMEX in the New York Mercantile Exchange. \x0d\ Theoretically, WTI crude oil is "lighter" and has lower sulfur content than Brent crude oil, so its price should be higher than Brent crude oil. But in fact, Cushing's crude oil inventory has been at a high level, which has restrained the rise of WTI price. One of the main reasons why the high inventory of Cushing crude oil can not be alleviated is the strict control of crude oil export in the United States. Cushing crude oil is mainly supplied to refineries in the United States, and there are no other sales channels. \ x0d \ x0d \ Different from WTI, Brent crude oil futures, as an important crude oil price benchmark in Europe, have unlimited liquidity and can be exported to overseas markets. In addition, the natural nature of shipping makes its price more susceptible to political factors and the interruption of crude oil export. Therefore, the Brent market is more active and more sensitive to the situation in the Middle East and North Africa than WTI. All these reflect the position of Brent crude oil as the preferred international crude oil standard. \ x0d \ x0d \ Brent crude oil futures is the most widely used contract in global crude oil pricing. At present, about 70% of crude oil spot trading pricing refers to Brent scale, and some Asian crude oil producing countries have recently shifted from their regional scale to Brent. At present, two thirds of the crude oil prices in the global oil market are related to Brent crude oil, including the China refined oil price reference mechanism.