Cushing, OK WTI Spot Price FOB Daily

Rows: 10,165
Columns: 2

Daily historical spot prices for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil at Cushing, Oklahoma, in USD per barrel from January 1986 to present. Time series dataset with thousands of daily observations.

AI analysis

Dataset Analysis: Cushing, OK WTI Spot Price FOB Daily

Dataset Overview & Research Value This dataset captures the daily spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil at Cushing, Oklahoma — the primary pricing benchmark for North American crude oil markets — spanning from January 1986 to the present, yielding 10,165 daily observations. Published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) at eia.gov/dnav/pet, a highly authoritative and continuously updated government source, this dataset carries strong credibility and likely reflects near-current data given the EIA's mandate for ongoing energy market reporting. Its multi-decade span makes it exceptionally valuable for long-horizon correlation studies, capturing multiple full commodity cycles, geopolitical shocks, recessions, and structural shifts in global energy supply and demand.

Data Quality Assessment Data quality here is remarkably high for a 38-year time series. With only 2 null cells across 10,165 rows (0.02% of values in the price column), missingness is negligible and unlikely to bias any analysis. The Date column is clean with zero nulls and 10,165 distinct values, confirming no duplicate trading days — a critical quality marker for time series integrity. Duplicate row counts are pending final Phase D recomputation, but the distinct-date count strongly implies no duplicates exist. One notable anomaly worth flagging is the minimum price of -$36.98, which corresponds to the extraordinary negative price event on April 20, 2020, when WTI futures briefly went negative due to storage constraints during the COVID-19 demand collapse. This is a legitimate data point, not an error, but analysts should isolate it as a structural outlier in any regression or normalization workflow.

Price Distribution & Statistical Highlights The price column tells a rich story through its statistics. The mean of $48.37 sits notably above the median of $43.11, and the positive skew of 0.566 reflects a distribution pulled rightward by high-price episodes (e.g., the 2008 spike to the maximum of $145.31). The interquartile range spans $20.34 (Q1) to $71.37 (Q3), a wide $51 band that underscores the dramatic volatility inherent in crude markets over this period. The standard deviation of $29.54 — roughly 61% of the mean — further confirms this volatility. The dataset's 5,644 distinct price values across ~10,000 rows suggests limited exact repetition, consistent with a continuously fluctuating market. Analysts should consider log-transforming prices or working with percentage returns to stabilize variance before running correlations or regressions.

Recommended Join Key The Date column is the definitive join key for this dataset. Its perfect uniqueness (10,165 distinct values matching total row count) and zero-null status make it a reliable anchor for temporal joins. When merging with other datasets, standard date normalization (YYYY-MM-DD format) should be verified, and analysts should account for the fact that this dataset reflects trading days only — weekends and market holidays will be absent, which may require forward-fill or interpolation logic when joining to datasets with continuous calendar dates or different trading calendars (e.g., non-US markets).

Recommended Correlation Datasets Several dataset categories would pair powerfully with WTI price history. Macroeconomic indicators — U.S. GDP, CPI/inflation indices, and Federal Reserve interest rate decisions — would test the well-documented relationship between energy costs and broader economic cycles. Equity market data (S&P 500, energy sector ETFs like XLE) would reveal cross-asset correlations, particularly relevant during crisis periods. Currency data, especially the USD/major currency pairs (EUR/USD, USD/SAR), would probe the inverse petrodollar relationship. On the supply side, EIA weekly petroleum inventory reports (also available at eia.gov) and Baker Hughes rig count data would enable supply-response analysis. Finally, geopolitical event timelines (OPEC meeting dates, Middle East conflict periods, sanctions announcements) could serve as categorical overlays for event-study methodologies.

Columns

Date (date)
Cushing, OK WTI Spot Price FOB (Dollars per Barrel) (decimal)