Crude Oil Prices Explained - WTI vs Brent

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Oil prices can be quite confusing, as there are more than one and they can have different names across the trading world. In this crude oil prices explained video we try to clear it all up by talking about what crude oil actually is, how crude oil prices are determined and the difference between the two main types of oil - WTI and Brent.
There are several other types of oil being traded across the globe, be it from countries like Russia or Iran, or the oil coming from the OPEC countries. But the prices of WTI Crude oil (aka West Texas Intermediate) and Brent remain the most referred to oil prices on the global markets. Both are denominated in U.S. dollars and both are part of more interconnected economies and infrastructures that make it easier for that type of oil to be transported to wherever they buyer is.
That isn’t to say that their oil price isn’t impacted by the other sources of oil. Far from it. OPEC meetings are still the most important single events when it comes to oil trading be it for Crude or for Brent. But those two are definitely the most popular among traders who invest and trade vast amounts of money in oil futures daily, causing oil prices to frequently have large swing in both directions.
The oil price of Brent and WTI does tend to have a correlation, being part of a supply chain for roughly the same resource, but it is important to understand that they are two separate things.
WTI is extracted from wells in the United States - Texas, Louisiana and North Dakota. From there they are shipped to refineries across the U.S. to be turned to more user-friendly things like gasoline, heating oil and airplane fuel.
Brent refers to oil taken from the North Sea and is a common name for the four oil grades extracted there by different countries and companies - Brent blend, Forties blend, Osberg and Ekofisk.
One important thing to remember is that Brent oil is graded as light or “sweet” because of its level of sulfur. This makes it easier to refine compared to WTI and brings its overall cost down.
Crude oil trading deals with oil futures. As the price is quite volatile, markets have settled on dealing with contracts that are executed in one, three or even more months ahead. This way buyers get a guaranteed quantity of this valuable resource and they can plan ahead without worrying about the day-to-day movements of WTI oil or Brent.
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[@hamidjamshidi7846]

that was awesome . tnx

[@FirstLast-tx3yj]

How the hell do i buy wti?? No broker is showing it trading 212 etoro avatrade no body I only fine brent

[@ronniebaker4549]

were you stupid enough to gamble on oil?

[@vladbozhchenko5972]

Who's watching this when WTI price became negative?

[@rasnjogu]

I am.

[@MrK7645497]

.

[@FirstLast-tx3yj]

How the hell do i buy wti?? No broker is showing it trading 212 etoro avatrade no body!! How to buy wti please tell me

[@scrimmo]

First Last you buy a futures contract or you buy spot price, along with a truck....

[@FirstLast-tx3yj]

@@scrimmo which broker would u use??

[@liamsalzman2925]

Saudis and Russia calling to update your video

[@azizazhar]

hahaha

[@seundirect]

Hahaha

[@nitinlalwani3062]

Who is watching this after WTI crude oil Slipped below 0$ per barrel. 😂😂😂

[@berndlottes9940]

you mean 10 dollar followed by 7 dollar?

[@GodsWheat]

I bet its like 80% of the people who came after the price dropped

[@rooburger]

I bought XLE etf and ExxonMobil stock then. Wish I bought more

[@joedellinger9437]

If volatility is what traders like, as you say, then they must be deliriously happy right now!

[@Muckian1992]

How high of a divergence in the two is possible/plausible? If US output is greatly reduced as looks likely in the current low price market is there a chance WTI divergence to OPEC produced brent could increase greatly or would the two still move in tandem?

[@hamidpacino7234]

Thanks for the good content Subscribed 👌

[@nothingsurprisesmeanymore]

I'm here to see how much to charge the gas station to fill my car up 😆

[@bradentoews7845]

Get Schwifty hahahahahaha

[@acommon1]

I like the way you communicate. Well done!

[@pilot3016]

VERY informative.. Thank You!

[@user-or7ji5hv8y]

How is the spot price of oil computed? Is there a central exchange for WTI or is it an OTC market?

[@reginaldegbudin3097]

Perfect time for this video to pop-up.

[@perkubuta4091]

2020-04-20 WTI CRUDE • 4.900 -13.370 -73.18% BRENT CRUDE • 26.33 -1.75 -6.23%

[@armandoarzate4748]

I live in West Texas, and work in the oilfield, it’s affecting us very bad. Oil at .05 at the moment

[@spiritofgamer990]

@@armandoarzate4748does if affect your job? are they going to bankrupt in this case?

[@perkubuta4091]

@@armandoarzate4748 Update WTI CRUDE • -38.520 -56.790 -310.84% Is this a petrodollar end?

[@214sims]

I just bought some Brent but didn’t know what it stands for, this was informative. 😎

[@manishthakur9851]

I put my screen upside down to make negative price to positive

[@abdulsaid9288]

that's what we call a 3000IQ move

[@forefatherofmankind3305]

@@abdulsaid9288 yeah better than yours, 2 IQ.

[@rinzmohd2275]

Bro, How long u use this capital.com platform for trading?

[@ResourceTalks]

Oil under $10 a barrel? Where is this headed? Can we see negative oil prices for long? It sounds stupid, I know. But negative inflation too sounded stupid 30 years ago. Hyperinflation looms around the corner. Be VERY careful buying oil stocks in 2020 if your income is at risk higher than 30%, your (personal) debt to assets ratio is higher than 0,5 and your emergency fund doesn’t cover a time period that would normally take for you to get back on your feet (run your scenario through history and see how long it would’ve taken for you to start earning a sufficient income again in a crisis).

[@forefatherofmankind3305]

Negative inflation = deflation ?

[@ResourceTalks]

yep

[@MrFBI78]

can we download this software from capitol.com? can we use it to buy and sell stocks from anywhere outside the UK?

[@danieldekel8268]

Very good Explanation.Thanks

[@Capitaltrading]

Glad you liked it!

[@Ghostalitta]

Can you please share the ppt template? Great presentation thanks

[@matthewdaly7423]

Very informative!!!!!

[@bigboss8575]

Awesome & very easy presentation for new comers as well .. 👍

[@Capitaltrading]

Glad you liked it!

[@samirbhalala3298]

what do you think about the current situation?

[@larsorloff3393]

excellent video! thanks!

[@Capitaltrading]

Thanks Lars, good luck with your trading!

[@goosesteppa7642]

@@Capitaltrading How do i put my cash into a computer? And how do i get mony from a computer after i no longer want the stock?

[@kushalbiswas3145]

Hello there, could you please confirm whether wti has less sulfur content, or Brent has less sulfur content. As per my understanding, wti has more sulfur content

[@Capitaltrading]

Thanks for the question Kushal. Brent has a higher sulphur content than WTI actually. WTI has a sulphur content of 0.24 and is better suited to gasoline production while Brent (with 0.37) is better utilised for diesel fuels.

[@Tom_Hadler]

Capital.com But they are both low enough to be considered "sweet"?

[@1whitedan]

"as low as 50$" aged like milk i would say ;)

[@Tom_Hadler]

Ian O'Connor Negative $50. Seriously

[@nitinlalwani3062]

@@Tom_Hadler hahahaha yes WTI is now below 0$ per barrel

[@can629]

Guys got a question. Is there a way to buy oil, keep it, and sell it about 1 year later?? All I can find about oil are futures!! :/

[@jacdragan8918]

What about XOP?

[@PhilipK100]

Where on the Internet can I find up to date oil prices so I can take a peak and see for myself?

[@nurshahirah2528]

You can find the the live update here! www.dailyfx.com/crude-oil

[@TruckTaxiMoveIt]

Enjoy the low fuel prices while you can.

[@yggdrasil9039]

High oil price will follow.

[@chevychase3103]

They're not as low as they should be! Why?

[@TruckTaxiMoveIt]

@@chevychase3103 look around, in my city I can find gas as low as $1 34 gallon to as high as $1.99 a gallon . Everyone is competing and they're competing hard for the scare dollars that are out there The oil companies know that the gasoline the customers are willing to spend substantial more than what they're currently spending they know this and so the only thing that is causing the price to be where it's at and not lower is the fact that they're trying to collude and keep prices High but even in that regard they going to have to fight for the limited customers.

[@FirstLast-tx3yj]

How the hell do i buy wti?? No broker is showing it trading 212 etoro avatrade no body

[@Curtis69213]

First Last open a Ally brokerage account. Shares are going for 2.09

[@bjarnenilsson80]

Wow wti is about half the price brent atm, so if I understood the wideo correctly that means interrest fot petrol seems to be way lower than diesel, and with a lot of the world in lock down and privat non essential travel at about 0 thst msksse sence thsnks for the vid. Btw can i complitly finance a trafe ( ie use no margin) at capital.com

[@nycxjz]

very informative. thanks

[@Capitaltrading]

Glad it was helpful and thanks for the comment.

[@andrewthacker114]

Good information

[@patmat.]

You bought a CFD on a Brent Oil Future right ?

[@CRegensche1n]

l00000000000000l

[@luke-ti3fu]

I'm watching as I write this. Can I trade directly in oil prices? I hold a fair amount of oilers since the current turmoil. But direct oil holdings would be much preferred. Any guidance appreciated.

[@luke-ti3fu]

I have realised that question is a foolish one. *exits chat to purchase WTI

[@alcazarfreddy]

Brent, WTI, its the same.... until Corona came and those dealing with WTI lost a loooot of money

[@MikeyMikeHq]

Thanks a ton. Does Brent price affect gas prices at the pump for USA ?

[@sonetyp7916]

I would say it's WTI. But anyways, oil prices at the moment are pretty low, I feel it at the gas pump in Germany at the moment

[@johnjohnson1997]

Yes. All oil moves in concert to an extent.

[@merou35]

@@sonetyp7916 But Germany import Gas from Russia Libya and Algeria also from Norway

[@merou35]

@@sonetyp7916 Germany start using Alternative Energy but the oil stay important

[@sonetyp7916]

@@merou35 prices are low wheter you import or export. if you want to talk about the German energy mix; We rely also heavily on coal!

[@ssanjaychavan2140]

Explain nyc sir Thnx.... Wht u think bottom near future? ?

[@yashthakare2059]

Now it's negative

[@keithwalker4639]

Does anyone know of a buyer for WTI crude?

[@ecgodsmack86]

Can I buy WTI on Vanguard?

[@victorc824]

Hey! It’s the guy from Trading212

[@TheMelchoir]

David!!! What happened to Trading 212?

[@chickenmanfarmer1570]

i have to tell you, i am not a trader...you'd need some money for that and right now, i'm not willing to chance it....but i come to you as one of my go to channels for understandable info. thank you

[@giftedbuthumble]

You need as little as $10

[@justiceknight1399]

Both WTI and Brent crude price was dropping since 2018 and yet price of gas remain up. (I was looking at oil prices for years)

[@goosesteppa7642]

The Australian Liberals put their own Taxes on oil. If you want cheap oil, you better get a digging.

[@justiceknight1399]

@@goosesteppa7642 what does that have to do with WTI and Brent crude going down absolutely nothing. As usual someone had to stick the liberal label into it. Actually more taxes should have the opposite effect, go up.

[@9875oil]

Thank your sir

[@user-yj4ld9mg2b]

WTI is mainly used to make gasoline. We import a lot of the crude for engine oil. At this point we couldn't survive on our own production of oil. We need oil trading. Gravity on Brent i think is still defined as 38. WTI is 39.6 and above. Anything above .5 percent sulphur is considered "sour." WTI is considered "sweet." Brent isn't as sweet but it's not sour either.

[@dominichawkes4611]

Excellent information. Can you give my a few tips on what information to follow? Any apps that will alert me before the oil prices go up or down etc. Many thanks

[@szgiturbo]

Dominic Hawkes Oilprice app

[@dominichawkes4611]

Shaheen Z oil prices live? It’s a app

[@alfredomuse1960]

Mostly news (the news on the oil war took the prices down by 35% in a single day) OPEC meetings, big buys by big countries, middle eastern wars and conflicts. But these are all confirmation pieces that should be backed up by your technical signals... those news on their own will not give you a good entry sometimes.

[@dominichawkes4611]

Alfredo Loera Good time to buy or do you think prices will continue to go down??

[@alfredomuse1960]

Dominic Hawkes it’s too soon to buy oil, we must wait until countries start recovering, until the quarantines in USA and the crisis in Europe over COVID-19 are over, we will not see oil prices rising again! Maybe a few weeks more until we can “safely” buy oil again!

[@TheXacuti]

Informative. Could you pls explain why is oil trade done mainly or only in US $?

[@Capitaltrading]

It's a bit of a long answer and there could be different angles of approaching but here's a short version - the dollar is the world's reserve currency right now. The dominance of the dollar can be traced back to WW2 when almost everyone except the U.S. was in ruins and they had to peg their currencies to it. That meant it was accepted all around the world for goods and services in international trade and provided stability for said trade. You can't trade large amounts of materials like oil at one price today and at 20% higher the next morning. Another important moment is the removal of the gold standard in 1971 (which is another topic entirely). After that the dollar's value dropped and as part of the countermeasures they agreed a deal with Saudi Arabia to buy their oil in dollars. This proved a success in economic terms and more deals with OPEC countries were struck to buy and sell oil in dollars. Something that continues to this day as there is no plausible alternative to the dollar as the global reserve currency.

[@juanok2775]

Cause freedomDollars are superior

[@johnjohnson1997]

Bc we have the biggest guns. If oil is denominated in our currency then we in a sense "call the shots" on global energy use and cost. If USD = world reserve currency = oil = energy then you can see that USD = energy. That's a powerful thing.

[@kamelmebhah4122]

Yesterday ,the Texas oil was at zero dollars ($0.16), so you got it wrong. the Brent was just over 22, dollars. a quiet big gap between them.

[@MarkWatch87]

To whom upstream sell its oil?

[@JeanCharlesEvrard]

Watching this as WTI price is negative!

[@sebastiannoel2445]

What software do you used for trade?

[@Capitaltrading]

This is the capital.com platform, here's a direct link to it bit.ly/39UMQfB

[@jslywang9739]

what about china SC future?

[@josec8896]

Is there a similar app for Americans?

[@FirstLast-tx3yj]

How the hell do i buy wti?? No broker is showing it trading 212 etoro avatrade no body

[@sandracouture1629]

How can i buy crude oil i live in the us

[@jorelljones5697]

Sandra Couture good thing you didn’t buy 7 days ago. Today WTI hit like NEGATIVE $40 a barrel

[@TristianandCo]

I'm thinking to buy WTI for long term 5 years + what are your opinion?

[@vitalijussivakovas334]

I think it's gonna move even lower

[@ashutoshsharma3712]

How about now?

[@TristianandCo]

Ashutosh Sharma I’m talking about W&T Offshore inc

[@dhanuka14]

What's the meaning of the "expiration date" on the WTI oil shares please? how is it relevant? e.g. Oil Brent 29May20

[@Capitaltrading]

Hi - it's the futures contract, so there is an expiry. But you can also trade the cash market which never expires.

[@dhanuka14]

@@Capitaltrading thank you for the reply. Just to clarify, if I buy share in oil with a contract that expires end of the month ... do I need to sell the stock before the expiration date?

[@jjones7837]

April 20 2020....CRUSHED.

[@SergioCanovasS]

$-3,70

[@josephkalusokoma1378]

Thanks

[@my-financial-wealthblog4423]

In April 2020 WTI reached $-36 per barrel while Brent traded $25 per barrel. Not much correlation.

[@KingJT80]

yeah, well we know what 2020 was. you probably wont get this anomaly for quite some time

[@ncumisadyonase4328]

How to pay this

[@merou35]

But as I listen one expert in Economy said that oil is Political strategy and not Supply and demand, if this right so why this difference between WTI and Brent , really I don't understand the world of oil, and why there is big problem with oil and not with Gold or food ? many questions important like why oil important than water? and you know the problem between Ethiopia now and Egypt because water? so why oil more important than water or Gold or food?

[@yggdrasil9039]

Because water is local but oil is global. Gold is non-essential, and food has multiple sources, but oil has only a few sources - OPEC. So it's a monopoly cartel that controls the entire world.

[@robertocfaguiar]

URGENT call. David oil is down to 15 usd WTI and I think the upside against the down side is huge. Can you make a video about the best strategy to play this market for someone looking medium time frame of 1 to 2 year. I just bought a USO ETF and I want to do more, perhaps some leverage ETF or options. If you were to bet on Oil now, believing it will rise to 30/40 dollar by the end of the year what would be your strategy? Can you share this with us.

[@Capitaltrading]

One step ahead of you, we've already started working on tomorrow's video :) Topic will be "What happens when oil storage runs out". We'll cover oil and some relevant stocks.

[@fiskking]

Hello +Capital.com . I ran across this comment on the web and I was wondering if there is any validity to the statement? "1. The oil is already in the tanks. That's what the democrats didn't want. If the oil companies don't pick it up (they won't, it will be cost ineffective to move it again) then we either keep it for free or buy it. That's what this sentence means: The Department continues to view purchasing oil, contingent on federal appropriations. It's in the tanks. It's not ours yet but it will be soon. We either find funding for buying it, it's given to us for free, or... 2. The second option is that the oil companies buy their oil back out of the tanks by paying us in oil for storage. Again, it's a win - we get free oil which is what the dems didn't want. "

[@robertocfaguiar]

@@Capitaltrading Awesome. Looking forward to it. Just lost my job and will put all my effort into trading to charge ahead. Learning so much from you David. Let me know how to retribute, Thanks.

[@diluthimera9528]

Thnxx u

[@GatorEng1]

Do Any of you have direct experience in investing in Oil and Gas Wells? I'd love to hear real experience from people that took a chance on these types of investments and any positive and/or negatives that you learned during the entire process. Would you invest in it again?

[@SuperHammerzeit]

can't USA sell their WTI oil to Europe or anywhere?

[@merou35]

other question is low price of oil good for USA economy or bad, because USA is big country of oil after Saudi Arabia and Russia ?

[@eunoiaeunoia1931]

Bad

[@micsunday14]

The future just called 2019 and it's saying sell

[@CatholicSoldierX]

*THIS IS AN ANNOUCEMENT * I will happily accept that any oil company stores there oil in my house (gardan, livingroom, garage,...). Email me and I will accept cash.

[@stilingiceland1403]

WTI crude oild price 21.51$, and brent crude oild price 27.95$ as of today

[@wazup3333]

why is Canadian oil much cheaper than comparables

[@wc389]

@@wazup3333 maple syrup is cheaper to mine than shale

[@eduardogalindo5364]

WTI Is more important to me because I work in it :)

[@lysergide2083]

time to find a new job

[@petergianakopoulos4926]

@@lysergide2083 hihi

[@visionworkstv]

looking at this and right now brent crude is 118.. yours say 53 thats crazy put all your savings reporting from future!

[@seyyedmohammadzaffaranchi2481]

FUEL ECONOMY

[@petemorbius3936]

what about arab or russian oil?

[@yazeedalotaibi1364]

High reserves. Low operating costs. Control the global oil market.

[@ronaldsimmons7316]

April 2020, oil is now cheaper than effluent.

[@JrealD]

I have been looking for David Jones for a long time now and trading 212 said nothing about him. Waow, i missed your teachings. I switching brokers 😂

[@Capitaltrading]

Glad you found him!

[@jbga.6178]

After seeing this, I will watch Midnight Oil Beds are Burning video.

[@williamf7196]

The difference is WTI could go negative and Brent won't!

[@minerlz4330]

I come from the future, sell everything before April the 20th.

[@AndreasChristianto]

you wrote this on 22 april 2020

[@sadsad9609]

Right now was at 21.6

[@jonneyjunmu464]

Is right time to buy Brent or WTI? as what Trump suggested

[@doreenwhittemore5304]

No cost of any kind of oil will be condemned

[@aleksejzanemanski6676]

Nothing explained why there is a price difference between Brent and WTI . In fact the quality is the same!!! So why 8 $ difference???

[@chevychase3103]

Brent oil has higher sulfur content better for diesel. WTI is better for making gasoline! So why the difference in price? Is diesel more popular!

[@likguochong]

Petrol vs diesel... The ingredients to process is the cause to the price

[@mrmustangman]

he explained it in the first few minutes........

[@robthetrader9167]

This is on a 5m timeframe though

[@meowmeow-tb6wi]

Who's here after the Suez canal incident?

[@Capitaltrading]

What do you mean?

[@granthovhannisyan1443]

18 today...

[@ramig4658]

Wti oil price is - 11$ today !

[@logger5400]

lmao,youtube recommended this afterthe oil crash

[@imadewahyuwiratmaja3247]

Sad day.

[@ddelox]

Today 15/04/2020 wti: 19.49

[@iskanderhaddad8812]

I bought at 19.55 I will keep buying until it reaches 15

[@keithwalker4639]

Who is selling WTI?

[@Capitaltrading]

Not many right now..

[@obnxis]

Good to see Frankie Munoz found a career post-Malcolm in the Middle

[@obnxis]

...all jokes aside, thank you for the explanation, great analysis.

[@megalocoman]

🤣🤣🤣

[@msingh6208]

Here after the us oil goes below zero

[@tomrichnafsky3089]

Gasoline prices nearly doubled in two years isn’t that fucking lovely

[@arshadmohamed5380]

oil traders on suicide watch

[@emuccino]

Directions unclear, prices fell below 0

[@Oceansta]

Riddle me this: Brent = UK WTI = USA So why are Saudi Arabia and Russia determining the prices??🙄

[@KingJT80]

OPEC is why. they produce A LOT of what the UK uses

[@silberlinie]

Konnte nichts zum Brent von $30,- vom April 2020 sagen? Nicht mal andeutungsweise? Those are the experts.

[@joshuarankin1905]

The indigenous peoples (Native Americans) of Western New York were recently [less than a week prior to this comment] selling gas for less than 0.80¢/gal American... Totally Bonkers!

[@wweishi]

🙃