WTI vs Brent Spread

I accidentally deleted a comment asking for an explanation for the WTI vs Brent spread in price.

I've blogged about that on several occasions. I do have a tag ("WTI-Brent-Spread") in the labels/tags section at the bottom of the blog, but I have not updated the tags (which I still need to do).

To find commentaries on the "WTI-Brent-Spread," type in "Brent" in the search frame at the upper left of this blog and it will take you to previous posts. I have checked those posts; unfortunately many of the original links are broken (which I warn folks about). My posts are all there, and my links are all there, but links to other media, newspapers, etc., are often broken, or require a paid subscription.

However, having said all that: the WTI-Brent spread is due to the fact that the storage tanks at Cushing, Oklahoma, are full. A couple years ago it was even worse for Bakken oil because there was limited takeaway capacity coming out of North Dakota, and the pipeline companies were charging what the market could bear to ship oil out of the Bakken. I remember folks telling me they were losing $10 to $20/bbl paying for pipeline space. And at that time, the price of oil was well below $90.