The WTI-Brent spread is the difference between the price of the US crude benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, and the international benchmark, Brent. For more than a decade WTI has traded at a discount to Brent. The size of that discount tells you how easily US oil can reach world markets — and in 2026 it also became a gauge of how badly the Strait of Hormuz crisis hit seaborne supply.
WTI vs Brent: The Basics
WTI is a light, sweet (low-sulfur) crude produced mainly in Texas and New Mexico. Its benchmark futures contract on NYMEX is delivered at the storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma — an inland location. Brent is a waterborne benchmark: the price of cargoes of light sweet crude loading in the North Sea, assessed as "Dated Brent" and traded as ICE Brent futures. Most of the world's internationally traded crude is priced off Brent.
WTI is slightly lighter and lower in sulfur than Brent, so in quality terms it is worth about the same or a little more. The persistent discount is about location: oil in Oklahoma must be piped to the US Gulf Coast and shipped across an ocean before it can compete with North Sea or Middle East barrels in Europe or Asia.
Why WTI Trades at a Discount to Brent
- Transport costs: pipeline tariffs from Cushing or the Permian to the Gulf Coast plus tanker freight to Europe or Asia. The spread tends to settle near the cost of moving a marginal US barrel overseas.
- Inland supply gluts: when production outruns pipeline capacity, crude backs up at Cushing and WTI must fall to clear the market.
- Exposure to geopolitical risk: Brent reflects supply that moves by sea, including Middle East and Russian barrels, so disruptions there lift Brent more than WTI.
- Different contract timing: front-month WTI and Brent futures expire on different dates, so quoted spreads can jump around roll dates.
The Spread in History (EIA Annual Averages)
The table below uses the U.S. Energy Information Administration's annual average spot prices for Cushing WTI and Europe Brent.
| Year | WTI ($/bbl) | Brent ($/bbl) | Brent minus WTI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | $79.48 | $79.61 | $0.13 |
| 2011 | $94.88 | $111.26 | $16.38 |
| 2012 | $94.05 | $111.63 | $17.58 |
| 2013 | $97.98 | $108.56 | $10.58 |
| 2014 | $93.17 | $98.97 | $5.80 |
| 2015 | $48.66 | $52.32 | $3.66 |
| 2016 | $43.29 | $43.64 | $0.35 |
| 2017 | $50.80 | $54.13 | $3.33 |
| 2018 | $65.23 | $71.34 | $6.11 |
| 2019 | $56.99 | $64.30 | $7.31 |
| 2020 | $39.16 | $41.96 | $2.80 |
| 2021 | $68.13 | $70.86 | $2.73 |
| 2022 | $94.90 | $100.93 | $6.03 |
| 2023 | $77.58 | $82.49 | $4.91 |
| 2024 | $76.63 | $80.52 | $3.89 |
| 2025 | $65.39 | $69.14 | $3.75 |
Source: EIA spot prices (RWTC, RBRTE), release of September 30, 2026.
2011–2013: the shale bottleneck. Shale output from North Dakota and Texas flooded into Cushing faster than pipelines could carry it to the Gulf Coast. The monthly average discount peaked at about $27 in September 2011 and stayed in double digits for most of 2012. Reversing the Seaway pipeline in 2012 to flow from Cushing to the Gulf and building new lines gradually cleared the glut.
2015–2016: exports legalized. Congress lifted the 40-year ban on most US crude exports in December 2015. With access to world markets, US barrels could arbitrage away large discounts, and in 2016 the annual spread averaged only about $0.35.
2018–2019: Permian pipelines lag again. Rapid Permian growth outran takeaway capacity until new pipelines such as Cactus II, EPIC and Gray Oak started up in 2019–2020.
2020: negative WTI. On April 20, 2020, with Cushing storage nearly full, the expiring May WTI futures contract settled at minus $37.63; the EIA's Cushing spot price was minus $36.98, while Brent stayed positive. It was the most extreme example of WTI's inland, physically delivered contract diverging from waterborne Brent.
2023 onward: WTI inside Brent. From June 2023 deliveries, WTI Midland has been part of the Dated Brent basket, and it often sets the Brent price. The US exported a record of roughly 4 million barrels per day of crude in 2023–2024, making WTI a global, not just a domestic, grade.
2026: The Hormuz Shock Blows Out the Spread
When the Iran war effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz from the end of February 2026, seaborne supply was hit far harder than US supply. The monthly average spot spread jumped from about $6.40 in February to $11.75 in March and about $17 in April, the widest in over a decade. It collapsed to under $1 in June as tankers started moving again, then widened back to about $7 in August as fighting resumed. On October 2, 2026, front-month Brent futures settled at $102.25 and WTI at $91.11 — a gap of about $11. See our Hormuz risk premium explainer for the background.
What Traders Watch
- Cushing inventories in the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report (Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. ET). Low Cushing stocks support WTI relative to Brent.
- US crude exports and freight rates: rising tanker rates widen the spread needed to ship US crude abroad.
- WTI Midland vs WTI Cushing: the Permian price relative to Cushing shows whether pipelines from West Texas are congested.
- Geopolitics: threats to seaborne supply (Middle East, Russia, Red Sea) typically widen the spread.
- Hurricanes and freezes: storms that shut Gulf Coast refineries can weaken WTI; those that shut US production can strengthen it.
You can follow the live spread on the WTI vs Brent chart on our homepage and the long-run picture on the WTI price history page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is WTI usually cheaper than Brent?
WTI is priced at Cushing, Oklahoma, hundreds of miles from the coast, while Brent is priced on ships in the North Sea. To reach most overseas refiners, a barrel of WTI must be piped to the US Gulf Coast and then shipped across the ocean, so it has to be priced below Brent by roughly that transport cost to compete. WTI is actually slightly lighter and sweeter (lower sulfur) than Brent, so the discount is about location and logistics, not quality.
What makes the WTI-Brent spread widen?
The spread widens when crude backs up inside the US or when waterborne supply abroad becomes scarce. Typical causes are high Cushing inventories, pipeline or export-terminal bottlenecks, higher tanker freight rates, and geopolitical disruptions that hit seaborne Middle East or Russian supply more than US supply — as in March–April 2026, when the monthly average gap reached about $17 during the Strait of Hormuz crisis.
What makes the spread narrow?
Falling Cushing stocks, new pipeline or export capacity, cheaper freight, strong export demand for US crude, and disruptions that hit US supply (hurricanes, freezes) all tend to narrow the spread. Since US crude exports were legalized at the end of 2015, the export arbitrage has kept the discount mostly in a $2–$7 range.
How does a strong US dollar affect WTI and Brent?
Both benchmarks are priced in US dollars, so a stronger dollar makes oil more expensive for buyers using other currencies and tends to weigh on both prices. Because it affects WTI and Brent in a similar way, the dollar has much less effect on the spread between them than on the outright price level.
What change was made to bring WTI pricing closer to Brent?
Starting with cargoes delivered in June 2023, the price-reporting agency S&P Global Platts added WTI Midland — US light sweet crude delivered to Europe — to the basket of North Sea grades used to assess Dated Brent. Because WTI Midland is often the most competitive grade in the basket, US crude now frequently sets the Brent price itself, tying the two benchmarks more closely together.
Can WTI trade above Brent?
Yes. Before 2010 WTI usually traded at a small premium to Brent because of its higher quality. In the annual averages since 2011, however, WTI has been below Brent every year as US production grew faster than the pipeline system could move it to the coast.
Sources
- EIA — Cushing, OK WTI spot price
- EIA — Europe Brent spot price
- S&P Global — Platts Dated Brent now reflects WTI Midland crude oil (May 2, 2023)
- EIA — Strait of Hormuz chokepoint
- CME Group — WTI crude oil futures
Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and is not investment advice. Spread and futures trading involve substantial risk of loss.