Crude oil price updates daily
The WTI crude oil price previously came from the EIA Cushing spot price, which is published once a week, so the quote could sit unchanged for up to seven days while the market moved. It now refreshes every day from the NYMEX WTI front-month futures price.
The API catalog reports the update frequency for this metric as daily, and next_expected_at tracks the new schedule. The metric definition states which instrument each part of the history comes from.
Methodology
Methodology version 2026-09-24. The WTI crude oil series changed instrument: earlier history is the EIA Cushing spot price, and newer points are the NYMEX WTI front-month futures price, read once per day. Spot and front-month futures normally track each other closely, but they are not the same instrument. Expect a visible step at the changeover, and occasional steps when the front-month contract rolls. Stored history was not restated.