Commodity, crude oil

The oil market deals in two financial benchmarks to determine global prices for crude, Brent oil from the North Sea and West Texas Intermediate, priced in Cushing Oklahoma.  The North Sea has continued to see a declining production profile, causing an almost endless loop of supply tightness, while the Cushing surplus seems to be unsolvable, even with the added drain coming from the newly opened Seaway pipeline.  These two fundamental pressures on these two individual benchmarks should assure spreads stay inordinately wide and refiners in the mid-con would continue to enjoy large profit margins for many more quarters to come.