West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude Oil Price History & Trends

West Texas Intermediate crude has touched all-time highs and lows in the past 12 years.

A light, sweet crude oil that is traded and delivered at Cushing, Oklahoma, a key U.S. hub, it's typically produced in the Permian Basin, located in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico, but can come from other locations.

The price of a WTI barrel is determined by supply and demand factors that are considered by traders at the New York Mercantile Exchange, which is owned by CME Group.

WTI prices surged to a record high of $145.29 a barrel, on July 3, 2008, as stagnating oil production was met with increasing demand, especially from emerging economies. Speculators and a weakening U.S. dollar have also been blamed for catapulting prices higher.

Fast forward to April 2020 and WTI crude oil plunged to a record low of -$37.63 a barrel on April 20 as stay-at-home orders designed to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic reduced global demand by about 30 million barrels per day at the same time Russia and Saudi Arabia, two of the world’s largest producers, were engaged in a price war.