West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is a grade or mix of crude oil; the term is also used to refer to the spot price, the futures price, or assessed price for that oil. In colloquial usage, WTI usually refers to the WTI Crude Oil futures contract traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). The WTI oil grade is also known as Texas light sweet, oil produced from any location can be considered WTI if the oil meets the required qualifications. Spot and futures prices of WTI are used as a benchmark in oil pricing. This grade is described as light crude oil because of its low density and sweet because of its low sulfur content. The price of WTI is often included in news reports on oil prices, alongside the price of Brent crude from the North Sea. Other important oil markers include the Dubai crude, Oman crude, Urals oil, and the OPEC reference basket. WTI is lighter and sweeter, containing less sulfur than Brent, and considerably lighter and sweeter than Dubai or Oman. WTI crude oil as a trade grade Unlike Brent Crude, WTI crude oil is not from any specific oil fields. Rather, WTI can be described as "light sweet oil traded and delivered at Cushing, Oklahoma" (with WTI Midland and WTI Houston crude oil defined similarly for Midland, Texas, and Houston, Texas respectively). Historically, local trade between oilfield production and refineries around Midland, Texas, and Cushing, Oklahoma, could be said to define WTI oil, but as local production declined, pipelines into those areas began to deliver crude oil of other grades, produced and blended elsewhere, which were also accepted as WTI. The WTI futures contract formalized this relationship by specifying that the deliverable asset for the contract could be a blend of crude oil, as long as it was of acceptable lightness and sweetness. Crude oil lightness is characterized by oil gravity, and crude oil sweetness by sulfur content. Measurements of lightness and sweetness of WTI changes depending on the particular light and sweet oil traded at Cushing at the time of the measurement, and even the particular measurement methodology. The Platts and Argus API and sulfur measurements are descriptions of WTI as assessed, while the NYMEX WTI futures contract characterization is a requirement for WTI crude oil delivery to the contract. WTI crude oil will typically satisfy the WTI futures contract requirements and be close to