Supply and production
Output decisions by major producing countries and companies set the baseline for how much crude reaches the market in any given month.
Crude Oil Benchmark Intelligence
Oil prices without the noise.
Daily crude benchmarks, historical context, and practical barrel calculations. Track the latest published WTI and Brent prices without the market noise.
Latest published benchmarks
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration · Daily spot prices
Benchmark snapshot
Oil price history
Daily published spot prices for the two most widely followed crude benchmarks.
Barrel Value Calculator
1 petroleum barrel = 42 U.S. gallons (about 159 liters). Start from a published benchmark or enter a custom price.
Results
Enter the number of barrels and choose a price source to calculate total value.
Estimates use published prices, not live market quotations. For information only.
Market context
What moves oil prices
Six fundamentals explain most of the movement in crude benchmarks. No predictions, no noise.
Global demand
Economic activity, industrial output, and transportation fuel consumption determine how much crude the world actually needs.
Inventories
Weekly storage levels act as the market's buffer. Rising inventories tend to ease prices; drawdowns tend to support them.
Refining capacity
Crude only matters once it is refined. Maintenance seasons and outages change how much crude refiners can absorb.
Transportation
Pipeline capacity, shipping rates, and chokepoints influence how easily crude moves from wells to refiners.
Geopolitical disruptions
Conflicts, sanctions, and policy shifts in producing regions can remove supply from the market with little warning.
Reference
Benchmark glossary
- WTI
- West Texas Intermediate, the primary U.S. crude benchmark. Light, sweet crude priced at Cushing, Oklahoma.
- Brent
- The North Sea benchmark that anchors pricing for much of the crude traded internationally.
- Spot price
- The price for crude bought and sold for immediate delivery, as opposed to future delivery.
- Futures
- Exchange-traded contracts to buy or sell crude at a set price on a future date. Futures often lead headlines; this site shows published spot prices.
- Benchmark spread
- The difference between two benchmarks, most commonly Brent minus WTI. It reflects transport costs, quality differences, and regional supply balances.
- Inventory
- Crude held in storage. U.S. inventory levels are reported weekly and are a closely watched supply signal.
- Refinery margin
- The difference between what a refiner pays for crude and what its refined products sell for. Margins drive how much crude refiners want to run.
- Barrel conversion
- One petroleum barrel equals 42 U.S. gallons, or roughly 159 liters. All barrel math on this site uses that standard.
Newsletter
The Barrel Brief
A concise oil-price summary when meaningful new EIA data is published.
The Barrel Brief is in development. Periodic benchmark updates and market context will be available soon.