Bloomberg is reporting:
West Texas Intermediate crude became
more expensive than Brent for the first time in almost three
years as pipeline and rail shipments helped clear a bottleneck
that reduced the price of the U.S. benchmark.
WTI hadn’t been higher than Brent since Aug. 17, 2010. The
move was in intraday trading. WTI averaged $17.47 less than
Brent in 2012 and traded as much as $23.44 lower than its
European counterpart Feb. 8.
Improved pipeline networks and the use of rail links are
helping to ease the North American oil glut created by rising
production of crude from shale formations. WTI has jumped 18
percent this year, while Brent has decreased 2.5 percent as
North Sea supplies stabilized after maintenance.
“The price change reflects the changing balance in the
market,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy &
Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts. “It’s the
perception of traders that you are not going to have the surplus
in the U.S. longer term. We are having more rail and pipeline
capacity.”
It was
back on May 15, 2012, we asked the question. It took awhile, but "we" are "here."
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