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) on prices current at the time, whereas the real value of the commodity bundle, if it is truly representative, remains the same. The real values of individual goods or commodities may rise or fall against each other, in relative terms, but a representative commodity bundle as a whole retains its real value as a constant over time. A price index is calculated relative to a base year. Indices are typically normalized at 100 in the base year. Starting from a base (or reference) year, a price index "P" represents the price of the commodity bundle over time "t". In base