Argus WTI Houston
The US Gulf coast has emerged as the global epicentre of crude price discovery
WTI Houston: the Heart of Global Oil Markets
Argus can help you to discover US Gulf coast’s pivotal role in shaping the global oil landscape. As a central production hub, this region contributes 12% of the world's oil production, with over 9 million daily barrels, including offshore production. Home to 10% of global refining capacity, PADD 3 boasts over 50 complex refineries and a CDU capacity of 10 million barrels per day.
US Gulf Coast role in global oil
World's oil production
12% of the world's oil production, with over 9 million daily barrels, including offshore production.
Global refining capacity
Home to 10% of global refining capacity, PADD 3 boasts over 50 complex refineries and a CDU capacity of 10 million barrels per day.
Global oil volumes
With WTI crude being exported to over 70 countries, this region is a cornerstone of global oil exports, accounting for 10% of global oil volumes.
Argus WTI Houston: Your Benchmark for Price Transparency
Argus WTI Houston is at the forefront of price transparency, ensuring fair and accurate pricing within the global oil market. With WTI crude being exported to over 70 countries, this region is a cornerstone of global oil exports, accounting for 10% of global oil volumes.
A Global Waterborne Crude, Underpinned by a Liquid Pipeline Market
In most major markets, crude oil is transported by water. However, the WTI Houston and Midland markets are unique, with oil travelling first by pipeline in rateable transactions. This high volume of daily transactions provides numerous points of price discovery throughout the day, expertly captured by our team of crude oil market reporters. Cargoes at the US Gulf Coast are priced at a differential to the pipeline market, benefiting from the underlying price dynamics of the highly liquid and transparent US pipeline market.
Understanding the WTI Supply Chain
Understanding the WTI supply chain and the drivers of its price formation is imperative for anyone buying, selling, or trading crude oil globally. The Gulf Coast stands out with its ability to process heavy crude, housing over 60% of global coking capacity. This region produces and consumes a significant amount of oil, creating a unique market with integrated production and refining capabilities.
WTI and Argus: A Deeply Rooted Relationship
Argus WTI assessments at Midland and Houston have been the standard physical benchmarks for US crude and settlement indexes for a robust derivatives market for two decades. These prices are assessed as differentials to the Argus WTI formula basis, based on the Nymex light sweet crude futures contract — one of the world’s most actively traded oil futures. Argus WTI Houston and Argus WTI Midland collectively form the basis of the world’s third-largest crude oil derivatives market, after Nymex light sweet and Ice Brent. Our rich, deep, and trusted coverage of the US crude oil market is unrivalled, making Argus the clear choice for trading companies seeking to manage WTI positions in both physical and paper markets.
Latest crude oil news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global crude oil industry.
PdV's tanker arm reemerges to control oil ports
PdV's tanker arm reemerges to control oil ports
Houston, 13 August (Argus) — Venezuela's state-owned oil and products shipping arm, PdV Marina, has moved into a more central position in managing crude and product shipments as the US has exerted control over the sector since its 3 January takeover, sources say. PdV Marina now handles all operations related to oil ports, taking that function from the national ports authority, Bolivariano de Puertos, a source in the operations department of PdV Marina who asked not to be named said. The arm is also now also overseeing loadings out of Venezuelan ports by Trafigura and Vitol, the two international traders most active in Venezuela after the US government approved them to market unsanctioned Venezuelan oil. PdV Marina receives reports and daily cargoes schedules but most of the shipments are carried out on tankers not owned by PdV Marina. PdV Marina also in November had suspended a joint venture with Cuban state-owned Cubametales, which was a previous buyer of Venezuelan crude and has been sanctioned by the US since 2019. Venezuela — previously Cuba's main supplier of oil — has sent no new shipments to Cuba since the US arrested former leader Nicolas Maduro on 3 January. PdV Marina previously focused more on management of its own fleet, which consisted of 22 tankers before former president Hugo Chavez came to power in 1999. But lack of proper maintenance has reduced the number of working tankers to five, pushing PdV to use more chartered vessels. PdV Marina's involvement in Venezuela's crude flows had dwindled in recent years, especially after a series of corruption allegations related to the mismanagement of funds meant to modernize and repair tankers under the former administration of Adan Chavez in 2020. Some $3bn in cyptocurrency funds that Venezuela's government said in 2023 that it had lost was also related to port management, as much of the funds dealt with unpaid crude already shipped by Venezuela . The port management change is part of a broader strategy by the US to exert its influence both in Venezuela's oil shipments as well as at ports of call in central and South America, a former supervisor at PdV Marina and current lecturer in maritime and energy issues said. The source also asked not to be named. PdV through PdV Marina has been part of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code mechanism crested in 2004 by the International Maritime Organization to strengthen security and safety measures. Improving infrastructure and overhauling Venezuela's oil ports and tankers to better comply with the code will be essential for Venezuela to further increase it oil output from 1.2mn b/d, industry sources have said. US refiners have indicated that they are eager to absorb more Venezuelan crude , and US imports from Venezuela hit their highest in nine years at 743,000 b/d in the latest week, according to preliminary US Energy Information Administration data. By Jose Chalhoub Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Rhine hits record lows, halts shipping south of Mainz
Rhine hits record lows, halts shipping south of Mainz
Hamburg, 13 August (Argus) — Rhine River water levels have again dropped to record lows, and barge operators said most traffic is now halted south of Mainz. Navigation is also increasingly restricted further north, as water levels continue to fall. Freight rates from the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub to Rhine destinations have hit record highs. The water gauge at Kaub, the Rhine's key bottleneck, was at 11cm on 13 August. The Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration forecasts a drop to 6cm by the weekend, another all-time low. At this level, river transport from ARA to the Upper Rhine and Main River is near-impossible. Only a few specialised barges can pass through Kaub under extremely challenging conditions, shipowners said. Storage sites along the Main, including Frankfurt, Hanau and Aschaffenburg, and depots on the Upper Rhine in Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Kehl and Basel, Switzerland, are effectively cut off from ARA. Shipping south of Kaub, to Basel, is barely feasible because of shallow water at the Maxau gauge south of Karlsruhe. Shipowners said quoted spot freight rates for ARA-Karlsruhe cargoes are largely theoretical, as volumes are too low to ascertain a reliable market price. The Argus rate for ARA-Karlsruhe route is a record €215/t, but urgent cargoes that still move to the Upper Rhine on specialised vessels are commanding even higher lump-sum rates. Most transport is confined to the Lower Rhine. Duisburg, Dortmund and Neuss remain accessible from ARA, shipowners said. Of the Cologne terminals — Köln-Molenkopf, Köln-Niehl, Godorf and Wesseling — only the former can still theoretically be served by conventional barges. The others are already too shallow for regular operations. Water levels are also dropping on the Lower Rhine. On 13 August, the Duisburg gauge was 136cm, another historic low. Barges can reach Duisburg from ARA at only about 15pc of capacity, according to shipowners. If Duisburg falls below 130cm, inland shipping could be halted on parts of the Lower Rhine. Forecasts show little short-term relief. While local thunderstorms are expected, dry soils mean these may not raise river levels significantly. A sustained recovery would need widespread, prolonged rainfall across the basin. By Johannes Guhlke and Marc Hauschild Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Gulf war reverses fortunes for US OCTG demand
Gulf war reverses fortunes for US OCTG demand
Houston, 13 August (Argus) — US oil and gas drilling companies and rig owners have boosted their demand outlooks because of the global crude oil supply shock from the US-Iran war. US drilling contractors and oil country tubular goods (OCTG) producers now anticipate higher oil prices and increased oil and gas drilling to raise US demand in the second half of 2026, a far cry from declining rig counts and lower oil prices at the start of the year. Pipe and tube companies are bullish as crude oil prices bolstered by the war in the Middle East raise US drilling activity. The Argus West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fob Houston assessment stood at $84.82/bl on 11 August, up from $68.19/bl at the end of February and before the onset of the war. Rig contractors raise estimates Publicly traded drilling rig contractors have seen the greatest shift, as they now expect a second quarterly rig count increase. Drilling rig contractor Helmerich & Payne (H&P)'s shifting outlook reflects the war-fueled reversal of fortune in the industry. At the end of 2025, H&P lowered its rig count estimates for the first quarter because of lower oil prices and drilling activity. "Going into [2026], things felt relatively bearish, but I do think it's quite a different story right now," H&P chief financial office Todd Scruggs said. "We think this [third quarter] is a pretty good marker for where we're going to be in [2027], we actually think we will be improving from this base." But the stronger outlook remains contingent on oil prices staying elevated and the conflict not widening into a disruption that undercuts economic growth or drilling budgets. At the end of the first quarter, H&P and fellow drilling rig contractors Nabors and Patterson-UTI guided for the second quarter an average of 294-301 active US drilling rigs between them. The rig operators surpassed that outlook and exited the second quarter with an estimated 316 active drilling rigs in the US, which the companies expect to grow to an approximate 324 active rigs by the end of the third quarter. US private and independent oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) companies drove higher drilling rig demand as they capitalized on higher crude oil prices, gains that are expected to continue in the back half of the year. The US weekly active drilling rig count has held at 588 since mid July, the highest level since April 2025 and up from 539 a year earlier, according to oilfield services company Baker Hughes. Pipe producers expect US volumes to grow As more US drilling rigs activate, OCTG producers are working to take advantage of greater demand, import constraints and tight inventories. Higher US drilling activity and lower import volumes raised Vallourec's second quarter US tubular mill production and OCTG prices, chief executive Philippe Guillemot said on a 30 July earnings call. He added that US OCTG inventory levels are below five-year averages. Tenaris chief executive Gabriel Podskubka said the company's Bay City, Texas, seamless OCTG mill is running at record production levels to meet demand. OCTG prices have responded to the shortage and higher demand. The Argus Pipe Logix OCTG all items index, which reflects distributor selling prices, has climbed by $45/short ton (st) in July to $2,233/st, which is $224/st higher since the start of the year. Domestic OCTG mills have pushed about $600/st of price increases into the market and have struggled to bridge a large import supply gap despite raising production. US domestic OCTG pipe mill shipments collected by Argus and import volumes less exports from January-June are at 2.24mn st, down by about 500,000st from the same period in the prior year. OCTG supply declined solely on lower import volumes as major foreign OCTG suppliers like Austria and Taiwan are under US antidumping investigations, causing many US buyers to refrain from importing from those countries. The majority of US OCTG distributors remain optimistic that pricing will continue to rise, with the Argus OCTG distributors index at a positive reading of 86 in July, down by two points from June and the fifth consecutive positive reading. Multiple OCTG distributors reported sourcing difficulties in July for certain products that they would normally buy as imports and cannot find domestically. By Rye Druzchetta Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US domestic shippers urge thorough Jones Act review
US domestic shippers urge thorough Jones Act review
New York, 12 August (Argus) — The US domestic shipping community is calling for thorough reviews of Jones Act waiver requests due to concerns that the newest waiver extension gives the Department of Defense (DoD) final say on approvals, which shippers say could undermine the domestic maritime industry. Jones Act-compliant shippers expressed disappointment that the waiver was extended on 10 August and voiced concerns over the potential pitfalls of the new requirement that the Maritime Administration (MARAD), which supports the US merchant marine and the industry as a Department of Transportation agency, consult with DoD on vessel availability prior to issuing a Jones Act waiver. This would require shippers utilizing foreign tankers for shipments from one US port to another to demonstrate that no Jones Act-compliant ships were available for the shipment. The US administration initially issued the Jones Act waiver — which allows foreign flagged and owned vessels to carry US-to-US shipments in place of just US-flagged, US-owned and US-crewed vessels as stipulated by the Jones Act — on 17 March on national security grounds under section 501a and later extended it by 90 days. But some of the voyages conducted under the waiver have been criticized by the domestic maritime industry as not serving any national security purpose. The waiver was issued to ensure US airfields and military installations are properly supplied with fuel during the period of the US conflict with Iran. But the waiver has also been highly popular with US refiners as it cuts their costs for moving crude and products from one US port to another. Jennifer Carpenter, president of the American Maritime Partnership (AMP), a coalition of domestic maritime interests, urged President Donald Trump's administration to "conduct a rigorous review of the national defense justification for each and every waiver request and to carefully assess the availability of US vessels before allowing a foreign vessel to move cargo between US ports". Most of the national defense justifications already provided by shippers under the ostensibly broader, existing Jones Act waiver have been generic statements copied across different shipments . Many simply allude to DoD as having issued the waiver, while 25 of the 217 shipments recorded so far by MARAD appear to have left a placeholder "[cargo]" in their national defense justification when describing the shipment itself. "Any future waivers during this 90-day period must be strictly justified on a national security basis to safeguard this historic progress," Matthew Paxton, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America, told Argus. "We've seen how exceptions to the Jones Act can be manipulated, and we've seen companies define their needs in ways that make available and capable US vessels appear unsuitable. A market-availability test is only meaningful if the government independently verifies the claims being made," Aaron Smith, president and chief executive of the Offshore Marine Service Association (OMSA), told Argus . "Without a rigorous and independent review, I believe this approach will function as a full waiver in all but name and further undermine the American maritime industry." Doubts over MARAD consultations The White House confirmed to Argus that the DoD will retain final authority in granting Jones Act waivers for individual trips, after consultation with MARAD on the availability of Jones Act vessels. However, market participants are also concerned with MARAD's ability to conduct market availability tests. MARAD was still working to establish its vessel-operator contacts to assess available US-flagged capacity on 9 August, when it asked an industry group to help update its contact list and vessel information ahead of the administration's announcement, according to a person familiar with the matter. The DoD will issue a waiver if it wants to, regardless of vessel availability, another person familiar with the matter told Argus . The American Petroleum Institute, which represents natural gas and oil interests in the US, commended the Trump administration move to extend the Jones Act waivers. By Charlotte Bawol Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Why Argus WTI?
Unrivalled methodology
Argus reports the US Gulf coast pipeline market the way it trades, rather than forcing it into a one-size-fits-all methodology. We publish volume-weighted average indexes for each assessed grade and location using reported deals done, and publish the underlying deals themselves. This provides our subscribers with accuracy and convenience, as well as a transparent audit trail.
An all-in-one view of your data
Hourly snapshots of the WTI Midland and WTI Houston markets can be viewed on the Argus Crude Market Ticker, also accessible on CME Direct. And for the first time, Argus WTI Midland and Houston futures can be traded directly on-screen through CME Direct, including by entities that do not retain a cash market broker.
Innovation and responsiveness
Argus has reported waterborne cargo prices for WTI Midland for several years on both fob US Gulf coast and delivered-Europe and Asia bases. As the market has developed, so has our approach. In November 2022, we augmented our rolling price for fob Midland WTI by reporting three intramonth periods, to better reflect market structure and the way cargoes are traded.
An expert reporting team
The Argus WTI Houston and Midland assessments are underpinned by the expertise of our Americas editorial team. We demystifying these complex markets through independent and transparent pricing, built on the strength of our relationships with the market. We have been surveying these pipeline markets for decades, meaning we understand the vital connections and nuances that exist.
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