Louisiana Light Sweet (LLS) Crude Oil Price

What LLS is

LLS originally referred to light, low-sulfur crude from offshore and onshore fields in southern Louisiana. Today most LLS is a blend that meets the specification, with only a small share of "pure" offshore LLS, according to RBN Energy. It is delivered at St. James, a terminal and pipeline hub on the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. St. James supplies about 2.6 million b/d of regional refining capacity and feeds pipelines north to Midwest refineries.

LLS yields a high share of gasoline, jet fuel and diesel, which is why it has long been among the highest-priced crudes in the US physical market. For what the quality numbers mean, see API gravity and sweet vs sour crude.

Why LLS often tracks Brent

LLS sits on the coast, close to refineries that can choose between domestic and imported crude. Before the US shale boom, Gulf Coast refiners bought large volumes of imported light sweet crude from West Africa and the North Sea, priced against Brent. LLS had to compete with those cargoes, so it traded close to Brent.

WTI, by contrast, is priced inland at Cushing, Oklahoma. When shale output surged faster than pipelines could carry it to the coast, WTI fell far below Brent in 2011–2013. LLS stayed near Brent because coastal crude was not trapped. That episode showed traders that LLS is a better gauge of the coastal, waterborne value of light sweet crude than WTI. More on that period is on the Brent vs WTI page.

Since the US lifted its crude export ban in December 2015, the relationship has shifted. The US now exports millions of barrels a day of light sweet crude, so Gulf Coast prices are set more by export economics, the value of crude at the coast minus freight to Europe or Asia. LLS still sits between WTI and Brent, but the margins are narrower.

LLS vs other Gulf Coast grades

• WTI Houston (MEH) is the main competing light sweet price on the Texas coast. It is the reference for much export trade from Houston. In March 2026 the IEA put WTI Houston at $2.65/bbl above WTI Cushing.
• WTI Midland is priced at the Permian wellhead hub and reaches the coast by pipeline.
• Mars is the Gulf Coast's medium sour marker. The LLS-Mars spread is a common measure of the sweet-sour quality differential in the US.

How LLS is priced and traded

LLS trades mostly in the physical and swaps markets. Price reporting agencies, including Argus, Platts and Quantum Commodity Intelligence, publish daily LLS assessments at St. James as a differential to the WTI futures contract. Physical deals are often done on a "WTI calendar-month average plus differential" basis. Refiners in Louisiana and the Midwest use LLS when setting the value of competing crudes, and traders watch the LLS-Brent gap as a signal of whether US crude exports are competitive.

LLS during the 2026 disruption

The loss of Middle East exports in 2026 increased demand for US light sweet crude, especially from Asia. The IEA reported that US Gulf Coast differentials strengthened in March and early April 2026 and that the WTI Houston-Midland spread reached a six-year high. Coastal light sweet grades such as LLS benefit from that export pull. The IEA also noted that US Gulf Coast refining margins were relatively insulated from the dislocations in international markets. For the global picture, see the crude oil benchmarks guide.