Prices of the world’s two main oil benchmarks became equal on Tuesday, reflecting different paths for crude supplied from the US and elsewhere. At midday in New York, Nymex February West Texas Intermediate, the US marker, and ICE February Brent, its international counterpart, both traded at $36.35 a barrel. WTI was up 54 cents on the day while Brent was unchanged. The move came days after President Barack Obama signed legislation that abolished 40-year-old restrictions on US crude oil exports, allowing US oil to compete freely in global markets. However, the price convergence also reflected how the prolonged bout of low oil prices has affected output. Brent this week fell to a 11-year low, while WTI is hovering above its nadir of the 2008 financial crisis. For years, WTI traded at a premium to Brent, drawing in foreign barrels to meet US demand. But starting in 2010, a surge in supply from US shale discounted the WTI price by as much as $20 a barrel. Production in the US is now in decline after peaking at 9.6m barrels per day earlier this year. The US Energy Information Administration anticipates domestic output will drop to 8.5m b/d by next September.