(March 19): Benchmark oil prices are soaring as war in the Middle East disrupts crude flows, but the advance is also sparking the biggest discount for US crude in more than a decade as the rally spreads unevenly across the globe. “This is partly due to the US being the world’s largest oil producer and the US market being well supplied with light WTI crude,” said Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst at A/S Global Risk Management. Speculation of US protectionist policies have exacerbated WTI’s discount, traders said. Oil releaseIn the US, the 172 million-barrel release of oil stockpiles is already reshaping the futures curve. Correlation is breaking down, so strong global crude is doing little to stop it.”The outsized impact on oil prices in Asia has forced traders to zero in on activity far away from the world’s major derivative-trading centers of London and New York.

Source: The Edge Markets March 19, 2026 15:15 UTC