WTI Crude Oil Price Today
NYMEX · USD/barrel · Real-Time Data
WTI Crude Oil Price Chart
What Is WTI Crude Oil?
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is a light, sweet crude oil that serves as the primary benchmark for oil prices in the United States. Traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) under ticker CL, WTI futures are among the most actively traded commodity contracts in the world. The crude is extracted from oil fields across Texas, Louisiana, and North Dakota, and is delivered at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub — the most important oil storage facility in North America. WTI has an API gravity of about 39.6 degrees and a sulfur content of approximately 0.24%, making it ideal for refining into gasoline and other high-value petroleum products. As the U.S. benchmark, WTI prices directly influence fuel costs, inflation expectations, and monetary policy decisions. Major factors driving WTI prices include OPEC+ production decisions, U.S. shale output, Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases, refinery utilization rates, and weekly EIA inventory reports.
Market Details
Key Price Drivers
- OPEC+ production quotas and compliance levels
- U.S. crude oil inventory levels (EIA weekly report)
- Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub capacity
- U.S. shale production growth (Permian Basin output)
- Federal Reserve interest rate policy and USD strength
- Geopolitical tensions in oil-producing regions
- Seasonal refinery maintenance and driving demand