Interesting Price Breakouts For Specific Oil Grades

[hatrack]

This is from the commodities page of today's WSJ.

European spot prices:

Forties: $67.94
Brent $67.09
Bonny It. $68.59
Urals - Medit. $62.39

W. Texas Intermediate $66.87
W. Texas Sour Midland $62.12
LA Sweet St. James $67.32
Alaska North Slope $64.11
(Pacific Delivery)

So, depending on the grade and location, things are both pricier (and on occasion approaching 10% cheaper) than CNN says.

[n2doc]

1. sour always is at a discount

The high Sulfur oil (i.e. sour) can only be handled by a few refineries. Valero is one of the few that put the money into upgrading their facilities to handle this stuff.