WTI Exceeds Brent For First Time In Almost Three Years

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."