The amount of capacity that, at the beginning of the period, is in operation; not in operation and not under active repair, but capable of being placed in operation within 30 days; or not in operation but under active repair that can be completed within 90 days. Operable capacity is the sum of the operating and idle capacity and is measured in barrels per calendar day or barrels per stream day.
A public auction form of futures trading where bids and offers are made directly between traders in an exchange pit.
The period at the beginning of a trading session as designated by the exchange.
An order to buy or sell a futures contract or option which is good until it is cancelled. An order to buy crude at say $95/bbl, will be good until it’s filled, with the brokerage house typically checking with clients at various intervals to see if there is interest in changing the order.
Figures published by the NYMEX which indicate the number of outstanding positions in a futures contract. An open interest number of 100,000 means that there are 50,000 long and 50,000 outstanding short positions. Rises or falls in open interest are often key barometers of whether a market is rising/falling thanks to new buying/selling or liquidation by existing participants. A rise in open interest after a market rally is often indicative of new buying, whereas a fall would have been representative of short covering.
Refers to a designated piece of property in a body of water for mineral exploration. The Gulf of Mexico has many areas that are divided up into blocks to be leased to companies for exploration.
Nothing more than high-sulfur No. 2 oil – same as home heating oil. This fuel can be used for off-road purposes such as powering diesel construction equipment.
A measure of the performance quality of gasoline in terms of antiknock qualities. The higher the octane number, the greater the antiknock qualities.
The principal labor group at U.S. refineries. Refinery strikes are generally called by this union or its affiliates.
Exchange where a number of commodities, including WTI crude, heating oil and unleaded gasoline are traded on a future basis.