North Sea Brent Crude

North Sea Brent Crude refers to a crude oil that was drilled for and sourced in the North Sea.

North Sea Brent Crude refined and sold to mostly European and UK end users.  North Sea Brent Crude prices are quoted world wide as a reference point for crude oil prices in Europe.  Energy futures traders in the USA and Europe will see a second type of crude price quoted on their trading platforms.  This second type of crude oil is WTI, or West Texas Intermediate.  WTI’s price is often times used to represent the price of crude sourced and used in the United States.  While WTI is a lighter and sweeter oil (and therefore higher yielding) than North Sea Brent, North Sea Brent has traded at a considerably higher price than WTI in recent years.  This has allowed some traders to hedge the price of one against the other and profit from the price convergence of the two.