Brent Crude

The global crude benchmark drawn from North Sea grades, pricing most of the world physical oil trade.

Overview

The Brent complex covers Brent, Forties, Oseberg, Ekofisk, and Troll, traded through ICE futures settled in cash against an index, with dated Brent physical assessments from price reporting agencies. Cargoes from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East heading east price off it, and the Brent WTI spread moves tanker and pipeline economics between the US Gulf and northwest Europe. North Sea output has declined for decades, so the benchmark leans on widening deliverable baskets to stay liquid. Wars in Libya, sanctions on Russia, and OPEC decisions show up in dated Brent first, which is why desks worldwide anchor analysis to it.