The Brent Oil Benchmark Is About To Change Forever

West Texas Intermediate Midland crude is about to be added to the Brent benchmark contract this June. This would be the first time a non-North Sea crude has been added to the benchmark basket. And it will change the oil market forever. First, however, why is WTI being added to the Brent basket? It's really simple. There has been more U.S. crude oil going into Europe since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, the output of the grades making up the Brent basket has been falling consistently, and so has trade in these grades. "We're really…