US Crude Is Lagging Behind as Global Oil Prices Skyrocket

Benchmark oil prices are soaring as war in the Middle East disrupts crude flows, but the advance is also sparking the biggest discount for US crude in more than a decade as the rally spreads unevenly across the globe.

West Texas Intermediate traded at a discount of more than $20 a barrel to the global Brent benchmark at one point on Thursday, the most since 2013. The nearest US futures contract is close to $97 a barrel, while some grades in the Middle East, like Oman crude, have topped $150 as the hostilities escalated.