Last week, the price differential for crude oil that is shipped from the heart of the Permian Basin in West Texas to the Midland, TX hub (the “true” WTI) reached a high of $1.53/bbl (green dashed circle in chart below). As discussed in RBN’s TradeView report, this is the highest differential for this physical crude stream since mid-March 2024, 11 months ago (compare against dashed black line) and is part of a steady recovery that has been underway since mid-January. Typically referred to as Midsweet WTI Midland (or simply “Midland”), this physical crude flow is priced as a differential to NYMEX-CME Domestic Sweet (DSW) — the commonly quoted prompt month futures contract price of crude oil. The price of Midland crude, as computed via its differential to DSW, represents an important component, along with five other crude streams produced in the North Sea, in determining the price of the Brent crude oil marker, the global benchmark against which the majority of the world’s crude oil output is priced.
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- Analyst Insight
Light on Its Toes – Light Louisiana Sweet Soars to One of Its Highest Values in More Than Four Years
Light Louisiana Sweet (LLS)'s price differential to NYMEX DSW has increased sharply in recent weeks as tariffs and political embargoes threaten to tighten the supply and increase the cost of imported crude oil into the U.S. Gulf.
- Analyst Insight
Mars Crude Price Differential Recovers on Tariff Uncertainty and Supply Tightness
Mars, the closely watched Gulf Coast sour crude price marker, has been punching out strong pricing differentials in the past two weeks, driven by a combination of tight imported supplies and crude import tariff uncertainty.
- Analyst Insight
Gulf Coast Sour Crude Price Differential Hits Near Five-Year High on Tariff Turbulence
Last week, the price differential for Mars, the Gulf Coast sour crude benchmark, hit its highest level since the bad days of COVID nearly five years ago. Tariff news and the elimination of Venezuelan heavy oil imports to the US were the drivers of the latest price peak.
