Depending on where crude oil is coming from it will have different properties such as density and sulfur content which will affect how much consumers are willing to pay for it.
The two widely used oil benchmarks are WTI and Brent.
When it comes to API gravity, crude oil can be light, medium, or heavy.
Both Brent and WTI fall into the light oil category which is an oil with API gravity above 31.
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West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
It is a light sweet crude oil. It is density is about 40 API and sulfur content is around 0.24%
WTI comes from the oilfields in the US and it is stored at Cushing, Oklahoma.
It is used mainly by US consumers due to the expenses involved in shipping it anywhere else because Cushing is a landlocked storage location.
This often results in a supply of WTI exceeding demand.
This is one of the reasons why WTI is usually priced slightly lower than Brent which has more access to shipping lines.
In addition, Brent crude is more expensive to produce than WTI.
Brent Oil
Brent oil has an API gravity of 38, which makes it slightly heavier than WTI. The sulfur content of Brent is about 0.37%.
Brent oil comes from various fields in the North Sea off the coast of the UK and Norway.
It is used for oil pricing in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
Related: What is the Difference Between Sour and Sweet Crude Oil?
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Texas_Intermediate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brent_Crude