West Texas Oil Discount to Remain Until 2013, KBC Energy Says

West Texas Intermediate oil, the benchmark grade for the U.S., will stay at a discount to other global crude markers including Brent and Dubai until at least 2013, according to report yesterday by KBC Energy Economics.

West Texas oil, the basis for futures traded in New York, is set to begin a “several-year long phase” where it will be at a discount to “waterborne” grades such as Brent and Louisiana Light Sweet, which are mostly transported by ship and so can travel to refiners globally, said the consultants based in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, U.K.