Financial Times Article on Spread Between WTI and Brent -- Superb Article -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here. (May require free registration and password.)

Oil trades at above $100 a barrel. Saudi Arabia is raising its output and Washington is opening its strategic reserve. Are these signs of a shortage in global oil markets that should encourage US oil producers to pump flat out?

Maybe not. Another scenario may be more likely, one that leads to thousands of barrels of crude production in the US Midwest and western Canada being shut early next year.

This scenario, anticipated by some veteran oil watchers and hedge funds, would have huge implications for global oil benchmarks. At its most extreme, it could push the discount of West Texas Intermediate, the US crude, against Brent, the North Sea benchmark, to as much as $50 a barrel. The discount recently hit a record $23.57.

This is a very, very good article. Go to the link and read the entire story.