How often are oil and gas prices updated?

Oil, gas, and refined product prices (WTI, Brent, Natural Gas, Diesel, Gasoline, etc.) are updated every 5 minutes during market hours. Coal prices update daily. This ensures you have near real-time data for trading decisions and cost monitoring.

How do I get an OilPriceAPI key and what does the free trial include?

Visit https://oilpriceapi.com/ and sign up for a free account. The 7-day free trial includes 10,000 API requests, access to all 50+ commodities, all endpoints (latest, past day, past week, past month), and no credit card required. After the trial, paid plans start at $15/month. Rate limit on free tier: 60 requests/minute.

What commodity codes are available?

The API offers 50+ energy commodities. Key codes include: WTI_USD (WTI Crude), BRENT_CRUDE_USD (Brent Crude), NATURAL_GAS_USD (Henry Hub Gas), DIESEL_USD (Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel), GASOLINE_USD (RBOB Gasoline), HEATING_OIL_USD (No. 2 Heating Oil), JET_FUEL_USD (Aviation Fuel/Kerosene), COAL_USD (Newcastle Thermal Coal). Use the `list_commodities` tool to see the full catalog.

Can I access historical price data for trend analysis?

Yes! The free tier includes past_day (24h hourly), past_week (7d daily), and past_month (30d daily) endpoints. For custom date ranges beyond 30 days, use the `get_historical_prices` tool which requires a paid subscription. This is ideal for long-term trend analysis, backtesting trading strategies, and academic research.

OilPrice MCP Server for VS Code Copilot 10 tools — connect in under 2 minutes

Name: OilPrice
Availability: InStock
Author: Vinkius

code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/chat/mcp-servers

Built by Vinkius GDPR 10 Tools IDE

GitHub Copilot in VS Code is the most widely adopted AI coding assistant, embedded directly into the world's most popular code editor. With MCP support in Agent mode, Copilot can access external data and APIs to generate context-aware code grounded in real-time information.

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Classic Setup·json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "oilprice": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
    }
  }
}

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About OilPrice MCP Server

Connect to OilPriceAPI and bring real-time energy commodity intelligence to any AI agent. Access 50+ energy commodities with prices updated every 5 minutes.

GitHub Copilot Agent mode brings OilPrice data directly into your VS Code workflow. With a project-scoped config, the entire team shares access to 10 tools. Copilot queries live data, generates typed code, and writes tests from actual API responses, all without leaving the editor.

What you can do

WTI Crude Oil — Get current and historical West Texas Intermediate crude prices, the primary US oil benchmark
Brent Crude — Track international crude oil prices, the global benchmark for oil trading
Natural Gas — Monitor Henry Hub natural gas prices updated every 5 minutes
Refined Products — Access diesel, gasoline, heating oil, and jet fuel prices
Coal — Track Newcastle thermal coal benchmarks
Latest Prices — Fetch current spot prices for any or all commodities
Intraday Data — Analyze hourly price movements over the last 24 hours
Weekly Trends — Review daily prices for the last 7 days
Monthly Analysis — Examine daily prices for the last 30 days
Historical Data — Query custom date ranges for long-term trend analysis (paid tier)
Commodity Catalog — Explore all 50+ available energy commodities and their codes

The OilPrice MCP Server exposes 10 tools through the Vinkius. Connect it to VS Code Copilot in under two minutes — no API keys to rotate, no infrastructure to provision, no vendor lock-in. Your configuration, your data, your control.

How to Connect OilPrice to VS Code Copilot via MCP

Follow these steps to integrate the OilPrice MCP Server with VS Code Copilot.

Create MCP config

Create a .vscode/mcp.json file in your project root

Add the server config

Paste the JSON configuration above

Enable Agent mode

Open GitHub Copilot Chat and switch to Agent mode using the dropdown

Start using OilPrice

Ask Copilot: "Using OilPrice, help me...". 10 tools available

Why Use VS Code Copilot with the OilPrice MCP Server

GitHub Copilot for Visual Studio Code provides unique advantages when paired with OilPrice through the Model Context Protocol.

VS Code is used by over 70% of developers. adding MCP tools to Copilot means your team can leverage external data without leaving their primary editor

Project-scoped MCP configs (`.vscode/mcp.json`) let you commit server configurations to your repository, ensuring the entire team shares the same tool access

Copilot's Agent mode integrates MCP tools seamlessly with file editing, terminal commands, and workspace search in a single agentic loop

GitHub's enterprise compliance and audit features extend to MCP tool usage, providing visibility into how AI interacts with external services

OilPrice + VS Code Copilot Use Cases

Practical scenarios where VS Code Copilot combined with the OilPrice MCP Server delivers measurable value.

Live API integration: Copilot can query an MCP server, inspect the response schema, and generate typed API client code in the same step

DevSecOps workflows: security teams can give developers access to domain intelligence tools directly in their editor for real-time vulnerability assessment during code review

Data pipeline development: Copilot fetches sample data via MCP and generates transformation scripts, validators, and test fixtures from actual API responses

Documentation generation: Copilot queries available tools and auto-generates README sections, API reference docs, and usage examples

OilPrice MCP Tools for VS Code Copilot (10)

These 10 tools become available when you connect OilPrice to VS Code Copilot via MCP:

get_brent_price

Prices update every 5 minutes. USE WHEN: - User asks specifically about Brent oil price - User needs the international crude oil benchmark - User wants to check European/global oil prices - User asks "what is Brent price" EXAMPLES: - "What is Brent price?" → call with no params - "Current Brent crude oil price" → call with no params - "Brent oil benchmark" → call with no params Get current Brent crude oil price

get_diesel_price

Important for tracking transportation fuel costs and refined product margins. USE WHEN: - User asks about diesel fuel prices - User needs refined product pricing - User wants to track diesel vs crude crack spreads - User asks "what is diesel price" EXAMPLES: - "What is diesel price?" → call with no params - "Current ULSD diesel price" → call with no params - "US diesel fuel cost" → call with no params Get current US Diesel (Ultra Low Sulfur) price

get_historical_prices

Requires a paid OilPriceAPI subscription. USE WHEN: - User asks about historical oil prices for a specific period - User wants long-term trend analysis or backtesting - User asks for prices from specific dates EXAMPLES: - "WTI prices for Q1 2026" → commodity_code="WTI_USD", start_date="2026-01-01", end_date="2026-03-31" - "Brent crude last year" → commodity_code="BRENT_CRUDE_USD", start_date="2025-01-01", end_date="2025-12-31" Get historical price data for a custom date range

get_latest_prices

Prices are updated every 5 minutes for oil, gas, and refined products. USE WHEN: - User asks about current oil prices - User needs the latest commodity prices - User wants to check current WTI or Brent prices - User asks what is the price of oil/gas/coal right now PARAMETERS: - commodity_code (OPTIONAL): Specific commodity code (e.g. "WTI_USD", "BRENT_CRUDE_USD") EXAMPLES: - "What is current oil price?" → call with commodity_code="WTI_USD" - "Latest Brent crude price" → call with commodity_code="BRENT_CRUDE_USD" - "Show all latest energy prices" → call with no params Get the latest spot prices for energy commodities

get_natural_gas_price

Prices update every 5 minutes. USE WHEN: - User asks about natural gas prices - User needs the US natural gas benchmark - User wants to check Henry Hub prices - User asks "what is natural gas price" EXAMPLES: - "What is natural gas price?" → call with no params - "Current Henry Hub gas price" → call with no params - "US natural gas benchmark" → call with no params Get current US Natural Gas (Henry Hub) price

get_past_day_prices

Perfect for tracking intraday price movements and volatility. USE WHEN: - User asks about oil price movements today - User needs hourly price data for the last day - User wants to track intraday volatility - User asks how prices changed in the last 24 hours PARAMETERS: - commodity_code (OPTIONAL): Specific commodity code EXAMPLES: - "Show WTI price movements today" → call with commodity_code="WTI_USD" - "Hourly natural gas prices last 24h" → call with commodity_code="NATURAL_GAS_USD" - "Brent crude intraday prices" → call with commodity_code="BRENT_CRUDE_USD" Get hourly prices data for the last 24 hours

get_past_month_prices

Great for monthly trend analysis and medium-term price tracking. USE WHEN: - User asks about oil price trends this month - User needs daily prices for the last 30 days - User wants to track monthly price movements - User asks how prices changed over the past month PARAMETERS: - commodity_code (OPTIONAL): Specific commodity code EXAMPLES: - "WTI price trends this month" → call with commodity_code="WTI_USD" - "Monthly natural gas prices" → call with commodity_code="NATURAL_GAS_USD" - "Brent crude last 30 days" → call with commodity_code="BRENT_CRUDE_USD" Get daily price data for the last 30 days

get_past_week_prices

Ideal for weekly trend analysis and short-term price tracking. USE WHEN: - User asks about oil price trends this week - User needs daily prices for the last week - User wants to track weekly price movements - User asks how prices changed over the past week PARAMETERS: - commodity_code (OPTIONAL): Specific commodity code EXAMPLES: - "WTI price trends this week" → call with commodity_code="WTI_USD" - "Weekly natural gas prices" → call with commodity_code="NATURAL_GAS_USD" - "Brent crude last 7 days" → call with commodity_code="BRENT_CRUDE_USD" Get daily price data for the last 7 days

get_wti_price

Prices update every 5 minutes. USE WHEN: - User asks specifically about WTI oil price - User needs the US crude oil benchmark - User wants to check American oil prices - User asks "what is WTI price" EXAMPLES: - "What is WTI price?" → call with no params - "Current WTI crude oil price" → call with no params - "West Texas Intermediate price" → call with no params Get current WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude oil price

list_commodities

USE WHEN: - User wants to explore what commodities are available - User needs to find commodity codes for querying prices - User is exploring the API capabilities for the first time - User asks what energy commodities are supported AVAILABLE COMMODITY TYPES: - Crude Oil: WTI_USD, BRENT_CRUDE_USD - Refined Products: DIESEL_USD, GASOLINE_USD, HEATING_OIL_USD, JET_FUEL_USD - Natural Gas: NATURAL_GAS_USD - Coal: COAL_USD - And 40+ more energy commodities EXAMPLES: - "What commodities are available?" → call with no params - "Show me all commodity codes" → call with no params - "List all energy products" → call with no params List all available energy commodities in OilPriceAPI

Example Prompts for OilPrice in VS Code Copilot

Ready-to-use prompts you can give your VS Code Copilot agent to start working with OilPrice immediately.

"What is the current price of WTI crude oil?"

"Show me natural gas prices for the last week."

"Compare WTI and Brent crude prices today."

Troubleshooting OilPrice MCP Server with VS Code Copilot

Common issues when connecting OilPrice to VS Code Copilot through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.

MCP tools not available

Ensure you are in Agent mode in Copilot Chat. MCP tools only appear in Agent mode.

OilPrice + VS Code Copilot FAQ

Common questions about integrating OilPrice MCP Server with VS Code Copilot.

Which VS Code version supports MCP?

MCP support requires VS Code 1.99 or later with the GitHub Copilot extension. Ensure both are updated to the latest version. Older versions of Copilot may not expose the Agent mode toggle.

How do I switch to Agent mode?

Open the Copilot Chat panel and look for two mode options: "Ask" and "Agent". Click "Agent" to enable autonomous tool calling. In Ask mode, Copilot provides conversational answers but cannot invoke MCP tools.

Can I restrict which MCP tools Copilot can access?

Yes. VS Code shows a tool consent dialog before any MCP tool is invoked for the first time. You can also configure tool access policies at the organization level through GitHub Copilot settings.

Does MCP work in VS Code Remote or Codespaces?

Yes. MCP servers configured via .vscode/mcp.json work in Remote SSH, WSL, and GitHub Codespaces environments. The MCP connection is established from the remote host, so ensure the server URL is accessible from that environment.