WTI Crude Barrels / United States Dollar

The current WTI Crude Barrels price is 96.788 per barrel, -0.379 (-0.39%) on the day. The price on this page updates live as the market moves.

Today WTI Crude Barrels has traded between 96.235 and 97.802 per barrel.

The bid is 96.580 and the ask is 96.585, a spread of 0.005. You buy at the ask and sell at the bid, so the spread is what opening a position costs you before the market moves at all.

WTI Crude Barrels has moved +51.11% over the last twelve months.

Brent comes from the North Sea and is the benchmark for Europe, Asia and the Middle East; WTI is American, lighter and lower in sulphur. The gap between the two moves with shipping costs and regional demand, and traders watch it as a signal in its own right.

OPEC+ production decisions, US inventory data, geopolitical risk in producing regions, and expectations for global growth. A headline in any of those four moves the price within minutes, which is why crude is among the most volatile instruments traded.

A barrel is 158.987 litres, or 42 US gallons. At the current price that is 0.609 per litre and 2.304 per gallon — before refining, transport, tax or any subsidy, which is why it bears little resemblance to the pump price.

Crude is the raw input and a small part of what you pay. On top of it come refining, distribution, retailer margin and — the largest and most variable piece — tax or subsidy, which is set nationally. That is why two countries can show very different pump prices on the same day at the same crude price.

Brent is trading +3.23 against WTI. The gap widens when shipping costs rise or US supply builds up, and traders follow it as a read on regional demand rather than on oil in general.

OPEC is the organisation of thirteen major oil exporters, led by Saudi Arabia; OPEC+ adds Russia and nine others. Together they control roughly 40% of world production, so a decision to raise or cut output changes the supply side directly — which is why the price reacts within minutes of a meeting.

Mostly through CFDs or futures on Brent and WTI rather than by holding barrels. Both track the price with leverage, which cuts the capital needed and raises the risk in the same step — oil moves further on a headline than most instruments do in a week.

Crude trades nearly around the clock, from Sunday evening to Friday evening. The largest moves usually follow the weekly US inventory release and OPEC+ meetings.