New York Harbor No. 2 Heating Oil

New York Harbor Nº 2 Heating Oil is a liquid petroleum distillate used as fuel for burning in furnaces and boilers in buildings. It accounts for 25%  the yield of a barrel of crude oil, the second largest cut after gasoline. It must conform to ASTM standard D396.

Heating oil futures are used to hedge diesel fuel and jet fuel, both of which trade in the cash market at an often stable premium to heating oil futures.

New York Harbor No. 2 Heating Oil contracts trade at the NYMEX under ticker symbol HO. Contract size is 42,000 gallons (1,000 barrels) quoted in US dollars and cents per gallon. Contract is settled with physical delivery, based on delivery in New York harbor, the principal cash market trading center. They also trade at the ICE- Europe under ticker symbol O. Contract size and quote are the same as for NYMEX. Contract is settled with cash settlement.

See also:

• Wikipedia – Heating Oil
• astm.org – ASTM D396 – 10 Standard Specification for Fuel Oils