The price on the futures contract for West Texas crude that is due to expire Tuesday fell into negative territory minus $37.63 a barrel.
What is West Texas Crude ?
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude Oil is a specific grade of crude oil and one of the main three benchmarks in oil pricing, along with Brent and Dubai Crude.
WTI is known as a light sweet oil because it contains 0.24% sulfur, making it “sweet,” and has a low density, making it “light.”
It is the underlying commodity of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) oil futures contract and is considered a high-quality oil that is easily refined.
- West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is a crude oil that serves as one of the main global oil benchmarks.
- It is sourced primarily from Texas and is one of the highest quality oils in the world, which is easy to refine.
- WTI is the underlying commodity for the NYMEX’s oil futures contract.
- WTI is often compared to Brent Crude, which is the oil benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil contracts.
WTI is the main oil benchmark for North America as it is sourced from the United States, primarily from the Permian Basin. The oil comes mainly from Texas. It then travels through pipelines where it is refined in the Midwest and the Gulf of Mexico. The main delivery and price settlement point for WTI is Cushing, Oklahoma.
Source: Wikipedia, Investopedia, Internet etc