Crude Oil Price (Brent)
Dated Brent, the North Sea crude that prices roughly two-thirds of the world's internationally traded oil. Dollars per barrel, daily since May 1987, from the EIA via FRED. Compare with WTI: the Brent-WTI spread is the discount US refiners enjoy on domestic crude while selling products at global prices.
Brent spot ($/barrel)
- YoY %
- 43.0%
Next release: Aug 26, 2026
Latest reading
As of August 18, 2026, Brent Crude (Brent spot ($/barrel)) stands at $95.29 — up from $92.43 the prior reading, 34% below the July 3, 2008 record of $143.95. Brent is the price the rest of the world pays for oil, and its spread over WTI (typically $3-6) is a live read on US export logistics and inland gluts — it blew out past $20 in 2011-13 when shale output outran pipelines. Read the level for the global oil cycle and the YoY rate as the inflation impulse; a wide Brent premium is a tailwind for US refiners, who buy WTI-linked crude and sell products at prices set by the wider market. Series history runs from 1987 to present.
Sources, methodology & freshnessLast updated 2026-08-21 · Open ↓Close ↑
Full history
Price ($/barrel)
Year-over-year %
The annual change in the Brent price — the global oil-inflation impulse, alongside WTI's US-centric read.
Methodology & data
Brent Crude is sourced from EIA via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (EIA via FRED (DCOILBRENTEU), daily, dollars per barrel, not seasonally adjusted). We pull the complete history, chart it on a daily basis, overlay SPY for context, and generate a dated plain-English reading from the latest release — with no smoothing or adjustment beyond what the chart legend states.
Every reading is stamped with its release date, last updated 2026-08-21. Maintained and reviewed by Yuriy Matso; see our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Crude Oil Price (Brent)?
Dated Brent, the North Sea crude that prices roughly two-thirds of the world's internationally traded oil. Dollars per barrel, daily since May 1987, from the EIA via FRED. Compare with WTI: the Brent-WTI spread is the discount US refiners enjoy on domestic crude while selling products at global prices.
How do you read Brent Crude?
Brent is the price the rest of the world pays for oil, and its spread over WTI (typically $3-6) is a live read on US export logistics and inland gluts — it blew out past $20 in 2011-13 when shale output outran pipelines. Read the level for the global oil cycle and the YoY rate as the inflation impulse; a wide Brent premium is a tailwind for US refiners, who buy WTI-linked crude and sell products at prices set by the wider market.
Where does the Brent Crude data come from?
EIA via FRED (DCOILBRENTEU), daily, dollars per barrel, not seasonally adjusted. We chart the full history and publish a dated, plain-English reading with every release; the raw series is downloadable as CSV at /data/indicators/brent-crude-price.csv.
How often is Brent Crude updated?
Brent Crude is a daily series from EIA, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts to FRED.
Brent spot ($/barrel)
- YoY %
- 43.0%
Next release: Aug 26, 2026