Author Archives: Claudia Soria
Oman Crude Oil
Oman Crude is a medium sour crude from Oman destined for East of Suez markets. Oman crude futures are traded at the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) under ticker symbol OQD (the DME is a fully electronic exchange, and its contracts … Continue reading
Light vs Heavy Crude Oil
Light Crude oil is liquid petroleum that has low density and that flows freely at room temperature. It has low viscosity, low specific gravity and high API gravity due to the presence of a high proportion of light hydrocarbon fractions. … Continue reading
Sweet vs Sour Crude Oil
Sweet crude oil is considered “sweet” if it contains less than 0.5% sulfur. In comparison, sour crude oil contains impurity sulfur levels larger than 0.5%. Sweet crude oil contains small amounts of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide and it is … Continue reading
OPEC Reference Basket
The OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) is a weighted average of prices for crude oil blends produced by OPEC countries. It is used as an important benchmark for crude oil prices. The Reference Basket currently consists of a weighted average of … Continue reading
Dubai Crude Oil
Dubai Crude, also known as Fateh, is a light sour crude oil extracted from Dubai. Dubai Crude is used as a benchmark for pricing exports of Persian Gulf sour crude oil to Asia. The other two main global oil price … Continue reading
Gulf Coast Sour Crude Oil
Mars-type crude oil of the Louisiana offshore. Gulf Coast Sour Crude Oil futures are traded at the NYMEX under ticker symbol MB. Contract size is 1,000 barrels with a contract price quoted in US Dollars and Cents per barrel. Delivery … Continue reading
Physically Settled Contracts
Upon expiration or exercise of commodity futures contracts, the buyer must take delivery of the underlying commodity, as opposed to a cash settled contract. Commodity contracts settled by this method only include Russian Export Blend Crude Oil (REBCO), Gulf Coast … Continue reading
Cash Settled Contracts
Upon expiration or exercise of commodity futures or option contracts, this settlement method allows the buyer to take the cash position associated with the commodity instead of the physical commodity itself. This settlement method is available for certain contracts. Commodity … Continue reading
Russian Export Blend Crude Oil
Russian Export Blend Crude Oil (REBCO), also known as Urals oil, is a medium gravity sour crude. It is a mix of heavy oil from the Urals and the Volga region with light oil of Western Siberia, set for delivery … Continue reading
Western Texas Intermediate
The Western Texas Intermediate (WTI), also known as Texas light sweet, is a light crude oil low in wax and sulphur content which makes it light and sweet. It is usually refined into gasoline, kerosene and diesel. It is used … Continue reading