Oil Price Explainers

Short guides to how crude oil is priced, using the same EIA data as the rest of the site.

• What Is WTI Crude Oil?

  The main U.S. crude benchmark, why it is priced in Oklahoma, and how it went negative in 2020.

• What Is Brent Crude Oil?

  The international benchmark, from a single North Sea field to a basket of crudes.

• Why WTI and Brent Prices Differ

  Quality, location, pipelines and the export ban: what drives the spread.

• How Crude Oil Reaches the Gas Pump

  How a barrel of crude becomes gasoline, and what else goes into the pump price.

• Barrels and Gallons: Crude Oil Units

  Why a barrel is 42 gallons, with the latest published prices converted to gallons, liters and tonnes.

• What Moves Oil Prices

  Supply, demand, inventories and the dollar, with examples from the price record.