In the past two years, and especially in 2018, the Houston-Midland spread has become a reliable indicator of changes in the widely traded Brent-WTI spread (Figure 2). For example, in late January and early February 2018, the Houston price was trading just around $2 above the Midland price. The spread began widening until it peaked at around $19 in late May. The Brent-WTI spread followed suit but with a slight lag, peaking in early June. Both spreads narrowed sharply in June, but the Houston-Midland spread widened again, peaking in late September while the Brent-WTI spread followed with a lag, eventually cresting in ... (full story)