Brent Crude ($108.37 as of 2013-01-10) is a major commercial classification of light sweet crude oil from the North Sea. Other well-known classifications (also called benchmarks or benchmarks) are the OPEC Benchmark Basket, Dubai Crude, Oman Crude, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI). Brent is the world’s leading benchmark for crude oil prices in the Atlantic Basin. It is used to price two-thirds of the world’s internationally traded crude oil supplies.

WTI ($102.33 as of 1/10/2013) is also used as a benchmark to determine oil prices, it is high quality crude oil. The spot price is set in Cushing, Oklahoma. WTI is lighter than Brent crude, has a lower sulfur content – comparatively – and produces more oil during the refining process. With less sulfur, refining is easier and the environmental effects on the planet are less (WTI contains 0.24% sulfur, while the sulfur content of heavy crude oil, such as that from the Orinoco belt in Venezuela, reaches 4.5%. A reason why many people like this reference). See www.oil-price.net. The WTI spread on Brent has increased driving down US fuel costs, there is oversupply in the Midwest, but pipeline constraints in the East and West may put pressure on American prices.