Query on the Oil Prices [US vs UK]
For the oil price, there are mainly two prices we refers to, one is from US, another one should be from UK (Brent), what's factor causing them at a different price level? And, I notice that, one of them is at a higher price in the past, but now, it becomes the opposite, why would this happen?
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It’s interesting, and here is something I found and probably can answer your question:
Apparently, there are 3 major Crude Oil Benchmark we should refer to:
- Brent Blend [UK]
- West Texas Intermediate (WTI) [US]
- Dubai (uncommon on talking) [Dubai?!]
Brent Crude is sourced from North Sea, and of course as we know it is not a major oil production place, however, Brent price as a benchmark is used around the world, and many countries (Africa, Russia etc) would price their oil relative to Brent Crude.
Compare with Brent Crude, WTI is better quality oil, therefore as Ken mentioned, traditionally, it is lighter, sweeter and more expensive than Brent Crude. The price between them should be about $1. However, there are 2 reasons the price of Brent ($71.66) is now more expensive than WTI (now $63.58).
First, North Sea oil fields are claimed depletion.
Second, stockpiles in Oklahoma due to refinery shutdown (not enough facility to distill oil)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Texas_Intermediate
That split seems short term; I wish I could do a parallel trade on them… (can talk about it later, as I have so many other things to share as well)
p.s. there is a rumor about Google to launch their MVNO in UK le… interesting~!!!
Eric
