Brent falls 11% since October 9 while WTI rises 9%, narrowing the gap to $7.33 a barrel

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 11% between October 9 and October 20 while West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, rose 9%, according to daily spot prices from the US Energy Information Administration.

What happened

Brent settled at $115.22 a barrel on October 20, down from $130.03 on October 9. WTI settled at $107.89, up from $98.73, according to the agency's WTI series. That narrowed the premium of Brent over WTI to $7.33 from $31.30 on October 9. On October 12, when WTI was $94.99, the gap was $34.96 (computed).

Most of the narrowing came on October 15 and 16, when WTI rose from $96.34 to $104.71 and then $108.21 while Brent fell from $126.55 to $119.33 by October 16. The EIA series do not explain the moves.

Where prices stand

Brent is 16.6% below its 2026 high of $138.21, reached on April 7, and 88.6% above its level on October 16, 2025, when it was $61.08 (both computed). WTI's 2026 high was $114.58 on April 7. At $107.89, it is 5.8% below that peak.

Brent's low for 2026 was also $61.08, on January 7. It was $67.09 on September 1, 2025, the first observation in the series reviewed for this article.

Fuel prices

US retail gasoline averaged $4.284 a gallon on October 19, down for a fourth week, according to the EIA.

About the data

The EIA series are daily spot prices and are published with a lag; the latest observation is October 20.