Propane prices increase for the week of 11/23/2009

The average residential propane price increased 3.1 cents per gallon to reach 227.2 cents per gallon. This was a decrease of 14.3 cents per gallon compared to the 241.5 cents per gallon average from the same period last year. Current propane prices gained 3.1 cents per gallon, from 117.0 cents per gallon to 120.1 cents per gallon. This was an increase of 38.9 cents per gallon when compared to the November 24, 2008 price of 81.2 cents per gallon.

Propane Inventories Continue to Decline
Propane inventories continued to fall last week from their October peak. Total U.S. inventories dropped over 1.8 million barrels to 63.6 last week. Consequently, primary inventories of propane have moved closer to the lower boundary of the average range for this time of year. The Midwest region led the decline with 1.3 million barrels of  drawn. The East Coast regional inventories declined 0.4 million barrels, while the Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain/West Coast regions both drew 0.1 million barrels of inventory.

source EIA

Propane prices

Continue Reading

Here are the weekly propane prices in Pennsylvania for the week ending November 23, 2009. These prices are complied by the EIA. You may use this informationPropane Price Pa 11-23-2009 when shopping for propane prices in your area. As you can see, residential propane prices for Pennsylvania have risen over 3 cents this week.propane flame

Continue Reading

Light, Sweet Crude Oil Futures 1,000 U.S. barrels (42,000 gallons). U.S. dollars and cents per barrel. Open outcry trading is conducted from 10:00 AM until 2:30 PM.After hours futures trading is conducted via the NYMEX ACCESS internet-based trading platform beginning at 3:15 PM on Mondays through Thursdays and concluding at 9:30 AM the following day. On Sundays, the session begins at 7:00 PM. 30 consecutive months based on a quarterly listing schedule plus long-dated June futures initially listed out three years, and long-dated December futures initially listed out three to seven years.Additionally, trading can be executed at an average differential to the previous day’s settlement prices for periods of two to 30 consecutive months in a single transaction. These calendar strips are executed during open outcry trading hours.

$0.01 per barrel ($10.00 per contract).$10.00 per barrel ($10,000 per contract) for all months. If any contract is traded, bid, or offered at the limit for five minutes, trading is halted for five minutes. When trading resumes, the limit is expanded by $10.00 per barrel in either direction. If another halt were triggered, the market would continue to be expanded by $10.00 per barrel in either direction after each successive five-minute trading halt. There will be no maximum price fluctuation limits during any one trading session. Trading terminates at the close of business on the third business day prior to the 25th calendar day of the month preceding the delivery month. If the 25th calendar day of the month is a non-business day, trading shall cease on the third business day prior to the business day preceding the 25th calendar day.

Physical. F.O.B. seller’s facility, Cushing, Oklahoma, at any pipeline or storage facility with pipeline access to TEPPCO, Cushing storage, or Equilon Pipeline Co., by in-tank transfer, in-line transfer, book-out, or inter-facility transfer (pumpover). All deliveries are ratable over the course of the month and must be initiated on or after the first calendar day and completed by the last calendar day of the delivery month. An alternate delivery procedure is available to buyers and sellers who have been matched by the Exchange subsequent to the termination of trading in the spot month contract. If buyer and seller agree to consummate delivery under terms different from those prescribed in the contract specifications, they may proceed on that basis after submitting a notice of their intention to the Exchange. The commercial buyer or seller may exchange a futures position for a physical position of equal quantity by submitting a notice to the Exchange. EFPs may be used to either initiate or liquidate a futures position. Specific domestic crudes with 0.42% sulfur by weight or less, not less than 37API gravity nor more than 42 API gravity. The following domestic crude streams are deliverable: West Texas Intermediate, Low Sweet Mix, New Mexican Sweet, North Texas Sweet, Oklahoma Sweet, South Texas Sweet.Specific foreign crudes of not less than 34; API nor more than 42; API. The following foreign streams are deliverable: U.K. Brent and Forties, for which the seller shall receive a 30 cent per barrel discount below the final settlement price; Norwegian Oseberg Blend is delivered at a 55barrel discount; Nigerian Bonny Light, Qua Iboe, and Colombian Cusiana are delivered at 15 premiums. Inspection shall be conducted in accordance with pipeline practices. A buyer or seller may appoint an inspector to inspect the quality of oil delivered. However, the buyer or seller who requests the inspection will bear its costs and will notify the other party of the transaction that the inspection will occur. Any one month/all months: 20,000 net futures, but not to exceed 2,000 contracts in the last three days of trading in the spot month. Margins are required for open futures positions.

source NYMEX Inc

Continue Reading

Trading Natural Gas Futures

Natural gas futures are traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange. This is the largest natural gas futures market in the world. Below are the contract specs for natural gas futures.

Trading Unit10,000 million British thermal units (mmBtu).Price QuotationU.S. dollars and cents per mmBtu.Trading Hours (All times are New York time)Open outcry trading is conducted from 10:00 AM until 2:30 PM.After hours futures trading is conducted via the CME Globex trading platform, with the following schedule:Sunday 6:00 PM until 9:50 AM the following day (Monday’s trade date)Monday  Thursday 3:15 PM until 5:15 PM the same day (Current trade date)6:00 PM until 9:50 AM the following day (Next trade date)Friday 3:15 PM until 5:15 PM (Friday’s trade date)Trading Months72 consecutive months commencing with the next calendar month (for example, on January 6, 2004, trading occurs in all months from February 2004 through January 2010).Minimum Price Fluctuation$0.001 (0.1) per mmBtu ($10.00 per contract).Maximum Daily Price Fluctuation$3.00 per mmBtu ($30,000 per contract) for all months. If any contract is traded, bid, or offered at the limit for five minutes, trading is halted for five minutes. When trading resumes, the limit is expanded by $3.00 per mmBtu in either direction. If another halt were triggered, the market would continue to be expanded by $3.00 per mmBtu in either direction after each successive five-minute trading halt. There will be no maximum price fluctuation limits during any one trading session.Last Trading DayTrading terminates three business days prior to the first calendar day of the delivery month.Settlement TypePhysical.DeliveryThe Sabine Pipe Line Co. Henry Hub in Louisiana. Seller is responsible for the movement of the gas through the Hub; the buyer, from the Hub. The Hub fee will be paid by seller.Delivery PeriodDelivery shall take place no earlier than the first calendar day of the delivery month and shall be completed no later than the last calendar day of the delivery month. All deliveries shall be made at as uniform as possible an hourly and daily rate of flow over the course of the delivery month.Alternate Delivery Procedure (ADP)An alternate delivery procedure is available to buyers and sellers who have been matched by the Exchange subsequent to the termination of trading in the spot month contract. If buyer and seller agree to consummate delivery under terms different from those prescribed in the contract specifications, they may proceed on that basis after submitting a notice of their intention to the Exchange.Exchange of Futures for Physicals (EFP) or Swaps (EFS)The commercial buyer or seller may exchange a futures position for a physical position or a swaps position of equal quantity by submitting a notice to the Exchange. EFPs and EFSs may be used to either initiate or liquidate a futures position.Grade and Quality SpecificationsPipeline specifications in effect at time of delivery.Position Accountability Levels and LimitsAny one month/all months: 12,000 net futures, but not to exceed 1,000 in the last three days of trading in the spot month.Margin RequirementsMargins are required for open futures positions.

Trading SymbolNG

Source: New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc

Continue Reading

crude oil prices

Crude oil prices are determined by worldwide supply and demand. Events in crude oil markets that caused spikes in crude oil prices were a major factor in all but one of the five major run-ups in gasoline prices between 1992 and 1997, according to the National Petroleum Council study U.S. Petroleum Supply – Inventory Dynamics. Rapid gasoline price increases occurred in response to crude oil shortages caused by the Arab oil embargo in 1973, the Iranian revolution in 1978, the Iran/Iraq war in 1980, and the Persian Gulf conflict in 1990. The cost of crude oil has been the main contributor to recent increases in gasoline prices. World crude oil prices reached record levels in 2007 due mainly to high worldwide oil demand relative to supply.

Other factors contributing to higher crude oil prices include political events and conflicts in some major oil producing regions, as well as other factors such as the declining value of the U.S. dollar (the currency at which crude oil is traded globally).

Continue Reading

Your Privacy
Your privacy is important to us. To better protect your privacy we provide this notice explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used. To make this notice easy to find, we make it available on our homepage and at every point where personally identifiable information may be requested.

Google Adsense and the DoubleClick DART Cookie
Google, as a third party advertisement vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on this site. The use of DART cookies by Google enables them to serve adverts to visitors that are based on their visits to this website as well as other sites on the internet.

To opt out of the DART cookies you may visit the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following url http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html Tracking of users through the DART cookie mechanisms are subject to Google’s own privacy policies.

Other Third Party ad servers or ad networks may also use cookies to track users activities on this website to measure advertisement effectiveness and other reasons that will be provided in their own privacy policies, integrityenergy.com has no access or control over these cookies that may be used by third party advertisers.

Our Commitment To Childrens Privacy
Protecting the privacy of the very young is especially important. For that reason, integrityenergy.com will never collect or maintain information at our website from those we actually know are under 18, and no part of our website is structured to attract anyone under 18.
Under our Terms of Service, children under 18 are not allowed to access our service.

Collection of Personal Information
When visiting integrityenergy.com, the IP address used to access the site will be logged along with the dates and times of access. This information is purely used to analyze trends, administer the site, track users movement and gather broad demographic information for internal use. Most importantly, any recorded IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information.

Links to third party Websites
We have included links on this site for your use and reference. We are not responsible for the privacy policies on these websites. You should be aware that the privacy policies of these sites may differ from our own.

Changes to this Privacy Statement
The contents of this statement may be altered at any time, at our discretion.

If you have any questions regarding the privacy policy of integrityenergy.com then you may contact us at webmaster@integrityenergy.com

Continue Reading

Propane is a by-product of natural gas processing and oil refining. U.S. demand is approximately one-third that of heating oil. Propane is used in diverse markets: residential cooking, crop-drying in agriculture, space heating in homes and industry, and as a feedstock for the production of vital petrochemicals. Natural gas utilities often store propane for use during periods of peak demand.The NYMEX Division propane contract trades in units of 42,000 gallons (1,000 barrels). It provides an effective pricing and risk management tool for the gas liquids sector of the energy industry. The contract is a natural complement to the NYMEX Division crude oil, heating oil, gasoline, and natural gas futures contracts.

In September of 2009, the New York Mercantile Exchange delisted the propane futures contract. Since propane gas is a by product of natural gas and crude oil, following crude oil futures and natural gas futures can give you the general trend of propane prices.

Continue Reading

gasoline pricesWhy do gasoline prices fluctuate?

Retail gasoline prices are mainly affected by crude oil prices and the level of gasoline supply relative to demand. Strong and increasing demand for gasoline and other petroleum products in the United States and the rest of the world is exerting intense pressure on available supplies. Even when crude oil prices are stable, gasoline prices fluctuate due to seasonal demand and local retail station competition. Gas prices can change rapidly if something disrupts the supply of crude oil or if there are problems at refineries or with delivery pipelines.

Continue Reading

Heating oil accounts for about 25% of the yield of a barrel of crude oil, the second largest cut after gasoline (petrol). The heating oil futures contract trades in units of 42,000 U.S. gallons (1,000 barrels) and (for the USA) is based on delivery in the New York harbor. Options on futures, calendar spread options contracts, crack spread options contracts, and average price options contracts give market participants even greater flexibility in managing price risk.The heating oil futures contract is also used to hedge diesel fuel and jet fuel, both of which trade in the cash market at an often stable premium to NYMEX Division New York Harbor heating oil futures.

source: NYMEX Inc

Continue Reading

What are heating oil futures?

Heating oil futures were first traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in 1978. With the United States lifting price controls on heating oil in the mid 1970’s, producers and consumers needed a way to hedge their price risks. Heating oil futures provide a liquid market place where they can come together to trade.

New York Harbor Heating Oil

Since the delivery point for these futures is New York Harbor area, the first users where local wholesalers and consumers. As the contract became more popular, others around the world were using it to hedge not only heating oil prices, but also diesel fuel prices and jet fuel prices. Heating oil represents about 25% of the yield of a barrel of crude oil. Heating oil is also referred to as No. 2 oil.

New York Heating Oil Futures Contract Specifications

One heating oil contract is 42,000 gallons (1,000 barrels), with the minimum price fluctuations being $.0001 per gallon, or $4.20 per tick.

NYMEX heating oil futures can be traded three ways. One way is via open outcry or pit trading on the floor of the exchange. Pit trading hours are Monday through Friday from 9am to 2:30 pm Eastern Time.

Heating oil trading on CME Globex takes place Sunday through Friday from 6pm until 5:15pm Eastern Time with a 45 minute break beginning at 5:15pm.

Trading on CME Clearport occurs during the same hours as Globex trading.

There are also e-mini heating oil contracts. These contracts are financially settled and are half the contract size of the regular futures contract.

NYMEX Heating Oil Options

Heating oil options were introduced in June of 1987. This allowed more flexibility for producers and users to hedge their risks. Options trading hours are the same as the futures hours.

Home heating oil futures are also used to trade crack spreads with gasoline futures and or crude oil futures. This allows refiners to lock in the price differentials between refinery output and input prices. This lets them profit or protect against adverse changes in those values.

Links:

Heating Oil Prices

Natural Gas Futures

CMEGroup

Continue Reading

Gasoline is the largest single volume refined product sold in the United States and accounts for almost half of national oil consumption. It is a highly diverse market, with hundreds of wholesale distributors and thousands of retail outlets, making it subject to intense competition and price volatility.The unleaded gas futures contract specifications conform to those for oxygenated gasoline, required in many areas for controlling emissions that can adversely affect air quality. With the ongoing phaseout of the oxygenate methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) the industry is shifting towards ethanol.

The NYMEX Division New York harbor unleaded gasoline futures contract and reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygen blending (RBOB) futures contract trade in units of 42,000 gallons (1,000 barrels). They are based on delivery at petroleum products terminals in the harbor, the major East Coast trading center for imports and domestic shipments from refineries in the New York harbor area or from the Gulf Coast refining centers.

RBOB conforms to industry standards for reformulated regular gasoline blendstock for blending with 10% denatured fuel ethanol (92% purity) as listed by the Colonial Pipeline for fungible F grade for sales in New York and New Jersey. RBOB is a wholesale non-oxygentated blendstock traded in the New York Harbor barge market that is ready for the addition of 10% ethanol at the truck rack.To ensure that the terms and conditions of the gasoline futures contract continue to mirror the cash market, the Exchange maintains close contact with federal and state officials and continues to evaluate changes in the regulations.Along with the futures contracts, options contracts, calendar spread options contracts, crack spread options contracts, and average price options contracts provide a slate of flexible, liquid financial instruments.The Exchange also lists for trading on the NYMEX ClearPort trading platform a series of gasoline swap futures contracts based on crack spreads and location differentials. Transactions in these contracts can also be consummated off-exchange and submitted to the Exchange for clearing through the NYMEX ClearPort clearing website.

Source: New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc

Continue Reading