WTI Benchmark Effectiveness Study

Over the past few years some have incorrectly blamed oil price volatility on "broken" oil price benchmarks.

Oil price volatility has been necessary to match inadequate supply to burgeoning demand since the early 2000s.

An interesting study by Craig Pirrong of the University of Houston is reviewed here by Greg Meyer of the FT.  The study findings, which I agree with, show that WTI crude futures contracts accurately reflect underlying physical market fundamentals.