WTI Crude Oil Price Today

The WTI spot price was $93.57 per barrel for the week ending September 25, 2026, fell $9.97 (-9.63%) from the prior week, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly petroleum data, refreshed by PetroEyes on October 3, 2026. The four-week average sits at $96.84 per barrel, and the benchmark has traded between $56.30 and $105.67 per barrel over the past year. NYMEX WTI futures, the contract that trades nearly around the clock, last quoted $91.11 per barrel in PetroEyes' market feed (updated October 3, 2026, -1.90% on the day). This page explains what the WTI price is, how the weekly spot figure differs from the futures quote, and what genuinely moves the benchmark.

1. What the WTI price is

WTI stands for West Texas Intermediate, a light, low-sulfur ("sweet") crude oil grade produced across the US shale patch and the Gulf Coast. The headline price is set at Cushing, Oklahoma, a pipeline and storage hub where several major US crude lines cross. Cushing is the delivery and pricing point for the NYMEX crude oil futures contract, which is why the benchmark carries a physical address: every contract ultimately settles against oil that can be delivered into or out of that hub.

The figure at the top of this page is the EIA weekly spot price: the average cash price for physical WTI delivered at Cushing during the week. It is a record of what physical oil actually traded for. The NYMEX futures price is quoted every trading day and is a market expectation for a specific future delivery month. The two sit close together most of the time; a persistent gap usually means the market expects conditions at Cushing, storage, pipelines, or refinery demand, to change between now and that delivery month. Prices are quoted in US dollars per barrel.

WTI is one of two benchmarks that dominate global crude pricing. The other is Brent, produced in the North Sea and priced off waterborne cargoes. Section 5 below puts the two side by side using this site's own weekly series, and our WTI vs Brent spread explainer goes into the full driver framework.

2. Recent weekly history

The table below shows the eight most recent weekly readings from the EIA series PetroEyes tracks - 605 weekly observations in total, running back to 1986. Brent is shown alongside so the spread between the two benchmarks is visible in the same table.

Over the past year the series traded as high as $105.67 per barrel in the week of April 3, 2026 and as low as $56.30 in the week of December 19, 2025. The same week a year ago printed $64.83, so the year-over-year comparison is part of any honest read of the current level.

3. Spot price vs. futures price

Three checks keep the headline number honest. First, which price: the weekly EIA spot figure on this page is backward-looking and stable, an average of physical trades over a finished week. The NYMEX futures price moves every trading day and gaps on inventory surprises, OPEC+ headlines, and macro news. They answer different questions - "what did physical oil trade for" versus "what does the market expect for next month's delivery."

Second, which contract: news quotes almost always mean the front month, the nearest NYMEX delivery contract. Later contracts trade at different prices, and the pattern of those differences - higher later prices (contango) or lower later prices (backwardation) - is itself information about how tight physical supply is. Our contango vs backwardation explainer walks through how to read that curve.

Third, which location: WTI is priced at an inland hub. Crudes priced at the coast, or in other countries, include transport to their pricing point, so a barrel is not a barrel until you know where it is. Regional context lives on the markets page, which carries the live benchmark quotes and spread series, and city-level retail fuel prices have their own page: gas prices by city.

4. What moves WTI

Crude is a global market priced at a local point, so WTI answers to both world fundamentals and conditions at one Oklahoma hub. The four forces below account for most weekly moves.

US inventories and the Wednesday report

The EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report, released Wednesday mornings, reports US crude and product stocks, refinery runs, imports, and production. A draw in crude stocks against expectations usually lifts prices; a surprise build does the opposite, because inventories are the fastest signal of whether physical oil is scarce or plentiful right now. PetroEyes' inventory and petroleum status analysis tracks the report series this page's data comes from, and our guide to reading the weekly report explains each table in it.

Production and rig counts

US output sets the supply side of the Cushing balance. Shale wells decline quickly, so the pace of drilling and completion today shapes production a few quarters out. The weekly rig count is the most watched leading indicator of that pace; PetroEyes maintains a dedicated rig counts page and a country-by-country view of global oil production.

Cushing storage and pipeline logistics

Because WTI settles at Cushing, the hub's own storage level matters out of proportion to its size. When Cushing tanks fill, nearby WTI weakens because sellers compete for scarce storage; when stocks drain toward tank bottoms, the benchmark strengthens as buyers bid for deliverable barrels. Pipeline expansions that connect the hub more directly to Gulf Coast refineries and export terminals have narrowed this effect over time, but it has not vanished.

OPEC+, global demand, and the dollar

OPEC+ supply decisions move every benchmark, WTI included, because crude is fungible once it reaches the water. Global demand growth, led by the US, China, and India, sets the longer trend, and refinery maintenance seasons create predictable soft patches in crude demand each spring and fall. Finally, crude is priced in US dollars, so a stronger dollar tends to pressure the dollar price of a barrel while a weaker dollar supports it, all else equal. None of these forces produces a mechanical price: they shift probabilities, and the weekly data above is how you check which story the physical market is actually telling.

5. WTI vs Brent

Brent usually trades above WTI. The gap, called the Brent-WTI spread, reflects quality differences (Brent is slightly heavier and higher in sulfur), location (Brent is waterborne and reaches world markets without pipeline constraints), and the local balance at Cushing. In the latest week of EIA data the spread was $23.51 per barrel. Over the past 52 matched weeks it averaged $7.17, ranging from $-0.78 (week of July 3, 2026) to $23.51 (week of September 25, 2026). A widening spread usually signals either strength in seaborne crude or a glut building inland; a narrowing or negative spread flips that reading. The full framework, with the spread's own long-run history from this site's data, is in WTI vs Brent spread explained.

6. Frequently asked questions

What is today's WTI crude oil price?

The latest EIA weekly spot reading is $93.57 per barrel for the week ending September 25, 2026. NYMEX futures, which trade daily, last quoted $91.11 per barrel in PetroEyes' market feed (updated October 3, 2026). This page updates with each PetroEyes data refresh.

Why is WTI cheaper than Brent?

WTI is priced at Cushing, Oklahoma, an inland hub, so it carries pipeline and storage constraints that waterborne Brent does not. Quality differences between the two grades and the local supply balance at Cushing set the rest of the gap. Over the past 52 weeks in this site's EIA series, the spread averaged $7.17 per barrel.

Where does the data come from?

The weekly series is the EIA's WTI spot price at Cushing from the Weekly Petroleum Status Report data files, scraped and archived by PetroEyes' data pipeline - 605 weekly observations back to 1986. The futures quote comes from daily NYMEX market data. Both series are shown with as-of dates, and our methodology page documents the pipeline.

Is WTI the price I pay at the gas pump?

No. WTI is the price of unrefined crude at one hub. Pump prices add refining, transport, blending, distribution, retail margin, and taxes, and gasoline trades as its own product with its own seasonal swings. The two are related over time but move on different weekly drivers; compare retail prices on the gas prices by city page.

How often does this page update?

The spot series updates whenever PetroEyes refreshes its EIA data, which tracks the EIA's weekly release cycle. Futures quotes refresh daily. Every figure on the page carries its as-of date, so a stale reading is visible rather than dressed up as current.

7. Related reading

• Natural Gas (Henry Hub) Price Today - the gas-side benchmark page, same EIA weekly discipline.
• WTI vs Brent Spread Explained - why the two crude benchmarks diverge, with long-run spread data.
• Contango vs Backwardation, Explained - how to read the futures curve behind the front-month quote.
• EIA Crude Oil Inventory and Weekly Petroleum Status Report - the weekly physical data behind the headlines.
• Rig Counts - the drilling pace that leads US production.