Sterne Agee Breaks Down Crude Oil Basics

Even people who don’t usually follow the price of crude oil are bound to have noticed its sudden drop and the ramifications that continue to unfold. To help people who are starting to pay close attention to the oil market for the first time, Sterne Agee chief economist Lindsey Piegza has put together a quick primer to clear up some of the common questions and misunderstandings that people may have.

The WTI-Brent spread

The first thing you probably noticed when you started checking oil prices is that there are two of them, and they don’t track each other perfectly. WTI, or West Texas Intermediate, is refined in the mid-western US as the name implies, and it serves as the benchmark price...