WTI Crude
CL · per barrel
$107.02
+$4.60 (+4.49%)
WTI Crude Oil Price Today
The current spot price for WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude, the U.S. oil benchmark. Data sourced from the U.S. EIA — last updated Sep 15, 2026 12:00 AM UTC.
What is WTI Crude?
WTI (West Texas Intermediate) is the primary benchmark for crude oil in North America. Often searched for as the US crude oil price, it is a light sweet crude grade of oil. "Light" means it has a low density, and "sweet" means it has a low sulfur content. These characteristics make American light sweet crude ideal for refining into high-value products like gasoline and diesel.
WTI is physically priced and delivered at Cushing, Oklahoma—a massive pipeline and storage hub. Because Cushing is landlocked, American crude oil prices are heavily influenced by U.S. pipeline capacity, domestic production levels (especially from the Permian Basin), and inventory levels reported in the EIA's weekly petroleum status report.
Tracking the US Crude Oil Price
When you look up the "US oil price" or "US crude oil price," you are looking at WTI. It is the underlying commodity for the NYMEX crude oil futures contract, one of the most heavily traded energy derivatives in the world.
WTI typically trades at a discount to Brent crude, the global seaborne benchmark. The price difference between the two—known as the Brent-WTI spread—is a critical metric for traders, as it dictates the economics of exporting U.S. crude to global markets.