What Is WTI/USD Doing Today
WTI/USD is the price of one barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil in US dollars, the US benchmark grade that is delivered at Cushing, Oklahoma. Oil answers to the balance of supply and demand first: OPEC+ output, US shale, weekly inventories and the pace of the global economy, with the US dollar and geopolitics layered on top.
Every 3 hours we score the latest oil-related headlines on the same 0 to 100 scale we use for the 8 major currencies, then compare WTI's score with the US dollar score from the same cycle. The gap between the two gives the WTI/USD read: oil sentiment running ahead of the dollar leans the price up, the dollar running ahead leans it down.
How to read the bias: A gap above +10 means a clear WTI/USD upside skew, below -10 a clear downside skew. Anything from -10 to +10 is Neutral: WTI crude and the dollar are evenly matched in the headlines and there is no clear lean.
WTI/USD Profile
- Quote: US dollars per barrel of WTI crude oil
- Contract size: 1 standard lot is 1,000 barrels on most accounts, so a $1 move in the oil price is worth $1,000 per standard lot
- Pip convention on this site: 1 pip is $0.01 per barrel, which is $10 per standard lot. Brokers vary, so check your own account specification
- Trading hours: the futures trade almost around the clock from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon US time, with a daily break; CFD hours follow them
- Related markets: XBR/USD (Brent, the seaborne benchmark), USD/CAD and CAD/JPY (Canada exports oil), USD/JPY (Japan imports it)
What Moves WTI/USD
Oil reacts to its own supply and demand story and to the dollar it is priced in. Here is what to watch on each side:
WTI crude (WTI) side
- OPEC+ production decisions and how closely members keep to them
- US crude and product inventories: the weekly EIA report and the API estimate before it
- Supply disruptions: sanctions on Russian or Iranian barrels, Middle East conflict, shipping attacks, hurricanes and outages
- Demand signals: China data, PMIs, refinery runs and recession risk
- US shale output and rig counts
US Dollar (USD) side
- Fed (FOMC) rate decisions and the tone of the press conference
- US CPI and PCE inflation prints
- NFP non-farm payrolls (first Friday of the month)
- US Treasury yields, particularly the 2-year and 10-year
- Broad dollar strength: a rallying dollar is a headwind for anything priced in it
Common Questions About WTI/USD
Is WTI/USD bullish or bearish today?
The bias card at the top of this page shows the WTI/USD label. Free visitors see the label from the previous 3-hour cycle. Pro members see the live WTI score, the gap against the US dollar, the drivers behind it and the session calls.
How is the WTI sentiment score worked out?
Every 3 hours we read the latest headlines that touch oil and the US dollar: OPEC+ decisions, inventories, supply disruptions, demand data and Fed policy. WTI gets its own score from 0 to 100, where 50 is neutral. The WTI/USD read compares that score with the US dollar score from the same cycle: a gap above +10 is Bullish, below -10 is Bearish, and anything in between is Neutral.
What is the pip value for WTI/USD?
WTI is quoted in US dollars per barrel and one standard lot is 1,000 barrels on most accounts, so a $1 move in the oil price is worth $1,000 per standard lot. On this site one pip is $0.01 per barrel, which is $10 per standard lot. Brokers differ on contract size and pip convention, so check the specification of your own account.
What is the difference between WTI and Brent?
WTI is the US benchmark, a light sweet crude delivered at Cushing, Oklahoma, so US inventories and shale output reach it first. Brent is the seaborne benchmark priced off North Sea crude, the reference for most of the world's traded oil, so Middle East and shipping disruptions reach it first. The two usually move together with a spread of a few dollars.
What moves the oil price?
The main drivers are OPEC+ output decisions, US inventories, supply disruptions and sanctions, demand signals from China and the wider economy, US shale production, and the US dollar. Supply cuts, disruptions and inventory draws support the price; supply increases, inventory builds and recession worries weigh on it.
Is the live WTI score free?
The WTI/USD pair label is free and runs one 3-hour cycle behind. The live WTI score, the drivers, the session calls, the history chart and API access are part of Pro.
Trading WTI crude today?
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