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.
Burnham confirmed as new UK prime minister from 20 July
Burnham confirmed as new UK prime minister from 20 July
London, 17 July (Argus) — Andy Burnham is set to become the UK's next prime minister on 20 July after being confirmed today as leader of the governing Labour Party. Burnham will take office at a time of continued focus on clean energy investment, restrictions on new North Sea oil and gas licensing, and the role of public ownership in UK energy and infrastructure. He will become the sixth UK prime minister since David Cameron stepped down in July 2016 following the Brexit referendum. Ministerial turnover has also been high, with seven finance ministers and eight energy ministers in the same period. Burnham is likely to reshuffle his cabinet once in office. Burnham is taking over after Keir Starmer announced his resignation on 22 June following weeks of pressure from Labour MPs. Burnham returned to parliament through a June by-election and quickly secured overwhelming support from Labour lawmakers to become the party's sole leadership candidate. Broadly centrist in the Labour Party, though to the left of Starmer, Burnham ran for the Labour leadership in 2010 and 2015 before leaving parliament to become mayor of Greater Manchester in northwest England in 2017. He has consistently voted for more powers for devolved regions and local councils. But his parliamentary voting record is dated, following his near-decade as mayor. He was MP for the northwest constituency of Leigh from 2001-17, and became MP for nearby Makerfield following a by-election there last month. Burnham concentrated on local issues as a metropolitan mayor, so lacks a recent record on foreign policy or defence, although he has said he will focus on national security. His voting record from his previous time as an MP was strongly aligned with Labour's, including on energy and climate policy. He was broadly supportive of renewable energy and efforts to tackle climate change during his time in parliament. He has spoken about increasing public control of areas such as water, energy and transport. Starmer's government had already moved in this direction on transport by nationalising some rail providers, and on energy by establishing Great British Energy in 2024 . The publicly owned energy company aims to develop, build and operate "clean" and "homegrown" energy. Starmer's government has stuck to its ambitious decarbonisation agenda since taking power, carrying out much of what it promised in its manifesto. Energy minister Ed Miliband lifted a de-facto ban on onshore wind in his first week in office, and the Labour Party has prohibited new North Sea oil and gas licences, although tie-backs to existing fields are permitted. Miliband and finance minister Rachel Reeves have stressed the importance of stability for long-term investment. The Labour government has secured more than £100bn ($134bn) of private investment in clean energy since it took power in July 2024, Miliband said last month. By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US restarts enforcement of Iran blockade: Update
US restarts enforcement of Iran blockade: Update
Adds US disabling of oil tanker New York, 15 July (Argus) — The US military has begun disabling and redirecting vessels that violate its renewed blockade of Iranian ports, following the breakdown of a four-week-old ceasefire agreement between the countries. US Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US forces in the Middle East, said it disabled the empty Curacao-flagged oil tanker Belma while it was transiting international waters toward Kharg Island on 15 July. "The commercial vessel ignored multiple warnings as it attempted to violate the US blockade," Centcom said on social media. "A US aircraft disabled the vessel after firing hellfire missiles into the ship's smokestack. The ship is no longer transiting to Iran." In the first 24 hours of enforcing the renewed blockade, Centcom said it also redirected two compliant commercial vessels. Prior to the US and Iran signing of the agreement on 18 June, US forces imposed a naval blockade from the Gulf of Oman and a northern section of the Arabian sea, preventing ships from reaching Iranian ports and turning vessels back toward Iran's coast. The US Navy redirected 140 ships and disabled nine vessels from 13 April to 18 June as part of this initial blockade. But enforcement activity during the first US blockade was uneven. While the blockade did impede Iranian exports, Iranian crude loading activity continued with ballast vessels able to make it through the blockade . US, Iranian actions endanger mariners The US on Tuesday reimposed its blockade on Iranian ports following the breakdown of the shaky truce it reached last month with Iran, including the restart of Iranian attacks on commercial vessels transiting the strait of Hormuz. The US has framed its latest military actions as intended to degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping in the strait of Hormuz while Iran "targets innocent civilians transiting the strait and in neighboring Gulf countries", Centcom said Wednesday on social media. "Iran has intentionally targeted civilians across the region by attacking seven commercial ships resulting in nearly a dozen civilian crew members killed, missing or injured," Centcom said. "US forces are holding Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression that continues to endanger innocent lives." US enforcement of its original blockade on Iranian ports also resulted in mariner casualties. In June, the US attacked the tanker Settebello , which resulted in the deaths of three Indian crew members, an action condemned by the International Maritime Organization and the Indian Ministry of Foreign affairs . The US has continued to encourage vessels to transit the strait via the southern route along Oman's coastline, a path that Iran has been targeting, increasing risks to mariners. "US-assisted commercial transits continued despite the elevated threat environment," the UK Trade Maritime Information Center wrote in a 14 July advisory note. Iran views transits on non-Iranian controlled routes as violations of the 18 June agreement and as a challenge to its control over the waterway. By Charlotte Bawol Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US restarts enforcement of Iran blockade
US restarts enforcement of Iran blockade
New York, 15 July (Argus) — The US military has begun redirecting vessels that violate its renewed blockade of Iranian ports following the breakdown of a four-week-old ceasefire agreement between the countries. "Since restarting the naval blockade against Iranian ports 17 hours ago, US forces have redirected two commercial vessels attempting to run the blockade," the US Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US forces in the Middle East, said on social media at 9:20am ET (13:20 GMT) Wednesday. "The US military remains vigilant and prepared to ensure full compliance." Prior to the US and Iran signing of the agreement on 18 June, Centcom forces imposed a naval blockade from the Gulf of Oman and a northern section of the Arabian sea, preventing ships from reaching Iranian ports and turning vessels back toward Iran's coast. The US Navy redirected 140 ships and disabled nine vessels from 13 April to 18 June as part of this initial blockade. But enforcement activity during the first US blockade was uneven. While the blockade did impede Iranian exports, Iranian crude loading activity continued with ballast vessels able to make it through the blockade . US, Iranian actions endanger mariners The US reimposed its blockade on Iranian ports following the breakdown of the shaky truce it reached last month with Iran and the restart of Iranian attacks on commercial vessels transiting the strait of Hormuz. The US has framed its latest military actions as intended to degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping in the strait of Hormuz while Iran "targets innocent civilians transiting the strait and in neighboring Gulf countries", Centcom said Wednesday on social media. "Iran has intentionally targeted civilians across the region by attacking seven commercial ships resulting in nearly a dozen civilian crew members killed, missing or injured," Centcom said. "US forces are holding Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression that continues to endanger innocent lives." Yet, US enforcement of its original blockade on Iranian ports also resulted in mariner casualties. In June, the US attacked the tanker Settebello , which resulted in the deaths of three Indian crew members, an action condemned by the International Maritime Organization and the Indian Ministry of Foreign affairs . The US has continued to encourage vessels to transit the strait via the southern route along Oman's coastline, a path that Iran has been targeting, increasing risks to mariners. "US-assisted commercial transits continued despite the elevated threat environment," the UK Trade Maritime Information Center wrote in a 14 July advisory note. Iran views transits on non-Iranian controlled routes as violations of the 18 June agreement and as a challenge to its control over the waterway. By Charlotte Bawol Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Iraqi leader invites US oil investment
Iraqi leader invites US oil investment
Washington, 14 July (Argus) — Iraq is hoping to scale up investment by US companies, Iraqi prime minister Ali al-Zaidi told President Donald Trump during a meeting at the White House on Tuesday. Trump said he expected major deals to be announced shortly, without providing details. "We have tremendous oil partnerships all of a sudden being formed over the short period of time," Trump said, attributing the spike of interest in Iraq to his decision to attack Iran. Al-Zaidi, who took office in May, inherited an economic crisis caused by the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz in March-June. US-Iranian clashes, which escalated on 7 July, have again constricted energy flows through Hormuz after a brief resurgence of flows in mid-June following an interim US-Iran deal. The US resumed a naval blockade of Iran at 4pm ET (20:00 GMT) on Tuesday. Vessel traffic through the strait of Hormuz remained at minimal levels over the past day, according to MarineTraffic. Al-Zaidi's government has so far managed to balance relations with Washington and Tehran during the US-Iran war. Al-Zaidi's government represents Iraq's Shiite Co-ordination Framework, which is aligned with Tehran. But Trump heaped praise on al-Zaidi — "The prime minister of Iraq has been amazing" — and took credit for his nomination. Al-Zaidi emerged as a compromise candidate after the US had rejected the bloc's earlier nomination of former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, seen by Washington as too aligned with Tehran. Iraq in recent weeks accelerated efforts to boost crude production and diversify export routes after approving a series of agreements with Chevron, US oil services firm Halliburton and other international partners, while moving to extend the operation of its northern export pipeline to Turkey for another year. Argus estimates Iraqi crude output was 2.15mn b/d as of June, well below its Opec+ target of 4.35mn b/d, because of constraints on seaborne exports. Baghdad is welcoming new US oil investment and, at the same time, preparing for the scheduled departure of the remaining US troops from Iraq on 30 September, al-Zaidi said. "US forces will be out of Iraq while these companies will be inside Iraq," he said. The US and Iraq agreed on the 30 September deadline for the departure of US forces in 2024, under former US president Joe Biden. The remaining US forces are positioned in bases in northern Iraq's Kurdistan region, where they came under repeated missile and drone attacks from Iran in March-April. "We don't think we need the military there any more," Trump said. "What we do have is the oil companies are all going in now and they're doing partnerships with Iraq, and they're getting along very well." In Trump's telling, renewed interest from US companies in Iraq testified to the success of his military campaign against Tehran. "Iran has been very much destabilized and their military power is just a tiny fraction of what it was just four months ago," Trump said. "I think that's one of the reasons that our oil companies are going in there at levels that have never been seen before." Trump prodded al-Zaidi to confirm that the 2020 killing of senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in a US strike in Baghdad has reduced Iran's influence in Iraq. "At that time, I was not in politics," said Al-Zaidi, who had been a businessman with interests spanning banking, trade and food supply networks before his appointment. "During my visit, I'd like to talk about the future, we are fed up with the past," he told Trump. By Haik Gugarats 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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Argus crude oil services include global daily, monthly, and forecasted prices, with forward curves and consulting services for the international crude markets