| Delayed Futures Quotes: |
There are two ways to see futures quotes on our site. The first is on the home page, on
the upper right. These are the Nearby, or otherwise referred to as the Prompt month
contract. It is the first available month traded, and usually the most liquid, as well
as the month that is often tied to the various cash markets that trade off futures markets.
These quotes are delayed as per rules of each exchange.
The second method is to see every month traded for a particular futures contract.
The Segment is called Futures (on the Main Menu). These are also delayed quotes based on Exchange rules.
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| Natural Gas Supply: |
These data sets are supplied by the Energy Information Administration.
The Weekly Working Gas in Storage is a closely monitored weekly report
summarizing natural gas in storage by consuming and producing regions.
The data is released every Thursday morning (with adjustments during holiday weeks).
The charts are created by our staff based on the data supplied by the EIA. Likewise,
the natural gas consumption charts are created by our staff, based on data that is
delayed and released monthly. Normally, the consumption data is two months behind.
The consumption charts depict four of the five consuming regions; Residential,
Commercial, Industrial and Electric Utility. The only other consuming sector is
Vehicle Fuel, but this sector represents less than one-tenth of one percent of
total consumption.
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| Notional Spot Markets: |
Major U.S. petroleum products and crude oil cash markets, also known as spot markets,
trade versus the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) futures quotes each day. Cash
market trading is done based on a differential to the specific futures price. For
example, Spot Heating Oil in New York, trades based on a cash market or spot market
differential to the nearby or prompt month heating oil contract traded on NYMEX.
Traders might report that spot heating oil is worth 2 cents per gallon less or
more than the futures quote. In this table, we feed spot market differentials
three times daily and as the futures trade, the spot market is automatically
updated based on the active trading at NYMEX. It is the closest thing to a
live spot market for the products and crude oil listed in this table.
Differentials are updated before the futures markets open (which is based
on overnight trade), again at 11:00 AM ET, and finally at the end of the
trading day (around 3:30 PM ET).
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| Nuclear Plant Operating Status: |
This table is built from data supplied by the Nuclear Regulatory Agency and
released daily. We take the raw data and assemble it by Power Region to
offer a glimpse at how regional grids are sustaining electricity production
through nuclear power.
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| Oil Supply Information: |
These data sets are supplied by the Energy Information Administration,
and released every Wednesday morning (with adjustments during holiday weeks).
The charts are created by our staff based on the data supplied by the EIA.
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| Petroleum Spot Markets: |
These segments are the complete summaries of spot market prices for U.S.
products and crude oil, as well as Latin American crude oil and refining margins.
These represent the low, high and midpoint of spot values for each product in
each market listed. These are end of day values and remain valid until
trading begins the next business day. The midpoint is our databased value
daily, and all data are chartable under Charting Tools.
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| Refining Margins: |
Located Under the Main Menu Segment called Petroleum Spot Markets. The refinery
margin calculations (also known as cracks) depict the profit from a barrel
of crude oil in terms of the value of its refined products such as gasoline,
diesel, heating oil, etc. These are estimates for an average refinery in
each region and calculations are based on spot crude oil typically run in a
particular region and the product values yielded in that region, plus other
proprietary factors such as amount of product typically yielded in that
region, operating costs, average run rates, etc. In a simplistic form,
the 3-2-1 margin is used to measure the refining margin by comparing the
values of 2 gasoline contracts and 1 heating oil contract which is then
divided by 3 crude contracts. The 6-3-2-1 margin is arrived at by adding
the product values of gasoline x 3, heating oil/diesel average x 2, and
an estimate of #6 oil (residual fuel, which is 1% on the East Coast and
3% on the Gulf Coast), taking that total and dividing by 6 x the crude oil
value. We add several other proprietary factors to arrive at final refining
margin estimates. The NYMEX 3-2-1 is the benchmark refining margin and
based purely on NYMEX commodities and is a simplified margin utilizing the
crude oil, unleaded gasoline and heating oil contracts, and not an actual
refinery or physical prices. The refining margins are also chartable under Charting Tools.
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| Retail Gasoline & Diesel Prices: |
These are updated every Monday by the Energy Information Administration and reflect
retail prices as of that day for both gasoline and diesel fuel. The charts are
created by our staff based on the data supplied by the EIA.
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