West Texas Intermediate between the two has once again increased to over $14, but was back down to $4 by the end of 2014. West Texas Intermediate West Texas Intermediate (WTI), also known as Texas light sweet, is a grade of crude oil used as a benchmark in oil pricing. This grade is described as Medium crude oil because of its relatively low density, and sweet because of its low sulfur content. It is the underlying commodity of New York Mercantile Exchange's oil futures contracts. The price of WTI is often referenced in news reports on oil prices, alongside the price of Brent
Real versus nominal value (economics) Real versus nominal value (economics) In economics, a real value of a good or other entity has been adjusted for inflation, enabling comparison of quantities as if prices had not changed. Changes in real terms therefore exclude the effect of inflation. In contrast with a real value, a nominal value has not been adjusted for inflation, and so changes in nominal value reflect at least in part the effect of inflation. A representative collection of goods, or commodity bundle, is used for comparison purposes, to measure inflation. The nominal (unadjusted) value of the commodity bundle in a given year depends