Source: Financial Times, 23rd August 2011

The growing acceptance of Brent crude oil as the world's most important oil benchmark faces a growing challenge - its output is declining rapidly. The problem of dwindling reserves has been known for years but the North Sea crude’s strengthening ascendancy over West Texas Intermediate, its US counterpart, has prompted the industry to seek urgent solutions.

The big problem for WTI is that the price of its yardstick has dislocated from others, plunging last week to a record discount of more than $26 a barrel against Brent, down from just $2 two years ago.

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