In a small corner of the most populous country in Africa, billions of dollars of crude oil flow under the feet of a desperate people. Early prospectors in the 19th century would taste and smell small quantities of oil to determine its quality and value. The company is comprised of four Designated Contract Markets (DCMs). Crude oil also is categorized as “sweet” or “sour” depending on the level of sulfur, which occurs either as elemental sulfur or in compounds such as hydrogen sulfide. NYMEX WTI Crude Oil futures (CL) has firmly established itself as the global crude benchmark with average daily volume of 1.87K in June 2020 and open interest is up to 2.07 million contracts. Crude oil is a naturally occurring, unrefined petroleum product composed of hydrocarbon deposits and other organic materials. WTI crude oil as a trade grade. CME Group is the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace. Search our directory for a broker that fits your needs. Sweet crude is a form of crude oil that has a sulfur content below 0.5%. These oil price charts are derived from spot oil trading in New York, Europe and Asia and presented with 10-second to weekly price candles. In North America, a popular example of sweet crude oil is the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil, which is actively traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). 2  The sulfur content of both Brent and WTI is well under 1%, making them both “sweet.” They are also less dense (“lighter”) than many of the crude oils extracted elsewhere. High-sulfur, heavy oils are the lowest quality and the least expensive on the global market. With WTI now firmly reconnected to global energy markets, open interest continues to grow as customers hedge their oil market risk. Statements made on our website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. It is considered a valuable and efficient source of crude oil due to the fact that sulfur lowers the yield of various refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, and even plastics. Seoul --South Korea's December crude oil imports fell 7.5% to 82.7 million barrels from a year earlier, preliminary data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed on Friday.For all of 2020, crude oil imports dropped 8.7% year-on-year to 978.5 million barrels. Hear from active traders about their experience adding CME Group futures and options on futures to their portfolio. What makes a particular crude sweet or sour is the amount of sulfur it contains. 1  2  In the Spring of 2020, oil prices collapsed amid … For example, crude oil with a density equal to that of water is defined as having an “API Gravity” of 10. Crude oil is also used in cosmetics and medicines. NYMEX WTI trades nearly 1.2 million contracts a day, with each contract equal to 1,000 barrels and valued at roughly $44,740. Benchmark crude oil is petroleum that serves as a pricing reference, establishing standards for comparison for varieties of crude oil. Therefore, sweet crude is … Find the latest Crude Oil Mar 21 (CL=F) stock quote, history, news and other vital information to help you with your stock trading and investing. Crude oil is one of the most demanded commodities and prices have significantly increased in recent times. While it does fluctuate and the differences in price are not always extreme. Understanding the nuances of WTI Crude Oil futures can help you to more accurately manage your risk and benefits from these liquid markets. Disclaimer  |  Privacy Policy  |  Cookie Policy  |  Terms of Use  |  Data Terms of Use  |  Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement  |  Report a Security Concern. Recent growth in U.S. crude oil production has been primarily light, sweet crude oil, defined as having an API gravity of 35 or higher and sulfur content of 0.3% or less. Depending on the composition of the trace elements, the process for refining crude oil can vary substantially in terms of the amount of residual byproduct—or “residuum”—left over after refining. You’ve probably heard people referencing “sweet” and “sour” oil. Further information on each exchange's rules and product listings can be found by clicking on the links to CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX. Sweet crude has very low levels of sulfur, well under 1%. It contains less than .3 percent THC. Total fund flow is the capital inflow into an ETF minus the capital outflow from the ETF for a particular time period. Sour crude is a type of crude oil known for its relatively high sulfur content. It is sourced from several oil fields, including those in Texas, North Dakota and Louisiana, and refined in the Midwest and Gulf Coast regions. Low-density (or “light”) oil is desirable because it is easier to refine, distill, and transport. Crude oil is a fossil fuel. Cushing, Oklahoma, is the major trading hub for US crude oil. A sour taste with the smell of rotten eggs indicated a high sulfur content. The documentary film Sweet Crude tells the story of Nigeria’s Niger Delta. Sweet Crude beverages are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Sweet Crude Oil contains very less amounts of sulfur and related contents such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. Both Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate are light and sweet, making them ideal for refining into gasoline. Sweet crude contains small amounts of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. The term sweet is used due to its low sulfur content that provides sweet crude with a mild sweet taste and a pleasant odor. In addition to controlling sulfur content, the quality of crude oil is also affected by its density. Sweet crude refers to crude oil that is extracted that is found to contain very low amounts of sulfur. WTI Crude Oil options (LO) traded 82% electronically in June 2020. The price-per-barrel difference between high and low-quality crude oils can be significant. North Sea Brent Crude is a light sweet blend of crude oil whose price serves as a benchmark to the majority of worldwide oil markets. In North America, a popular example of sweet crude oil is the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude … NYMEX WTI (CL), the world’s most liquid crude oil benchmark, provides access to global crude oil pricing with the most diverse set of futures and options contracts. In 2018, total U.S. crude oil production grew by 17%, led by increased production of relatively light, less dense crude oil.The increase in light crude oil production is largely the result of the growth in crude oil production from shale and tight rock formations, which are now more accessible because of improvements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Its popularity in North America is due in part to the fact that it is produced and refined in North America, while also being actively traded on commodity futures markets such as the NYMEX. Crude oil with low sulfur content is classified as “sweet.” Crude oil with a higher sulfur content is classified as “sour.” Sulfur content is considered an undesirable characteristic for both processing and end-product quality. It is through this old testing method that the terms "sweet crude" and "sour crude" came to be. WTI Specification Highlights: In response to changes in the physical industry, and to ensure the continued high quality and integrity of the domestic light sweet crude oil that is being delivered against our NYMEX WTI futures contracts, we will add five additional testing parameters to our WTI futures contract specifications beginning with the January 2019 contract month. Sweet crude oil contains small amounts of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide.High-quality, low-sulfur crude oil is commonly used for processing into gasoline and is in high demand, particularly in industrialized nations. Sulfur content and weight are the two qualities by which crude oil is typically judged. Choose the option that best fits your strategy/risk profile with an extensive slate of options on WTI futures,  including American-style, European-style, monthly, weekly, daily, calendar spread, inter-commodity spread, average price, and futures strip options. Get quick access to tools and premium content, or customize a portfolio and set alerts to follow the market. Spot oil charts are live from Sun 6:00 pm thru Fri 5:15 pm EST. Stream live futures and options market data directly from CME Group. The offers that appear in this table are from partnerships from which Investopedia receives compensation. Crude oil prices & gas price charts. Oil price charts for Brent Crude, WTI & oil futures. CME Updated Jan 1, 1970 12:00 AM Immense wealth and abject poverty stand in stark contrast. Sweet crude is easier to refine and safer to extract and transport than sour crude. Light, Sweet Crude Oil Futures. This is because it is highly efficient, leaving minimal residue in its refinement process while also being easy to distill and transport due to its low density. Oil is easiest to work with if its sulfur content is kept very low. Evaluate your cleared margin requirements using our interactive margin calculator. ETFs Tracking The Light, sweet crude oil – ETF Fund Flow. Final data will be released later this month by state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC). Brent Crude is a sweet and light crude oil and with a sulfur composition of 0.37% and an API gravity of 39.8%. It is viewed as a less desirable form of crude oil. Sweetness of Crude Oil. At Yahoo Finance, you get free stock quotes, up-to-date news, portfolio management resources, international market data, social interaction and mortgage rates that help you manage your financial life. Access real-time data, charts, analytics and news from anywhere at anytime. The issues are complex, the answers elusive. Gain direct exposure to the crude oil market using NYMEX West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude Oil futures, the world’s most liquid oil contract. Sweet crudes have sulfur contents of 0.5 percent or less by weight, and sour crudes have sulfur contents of 1 percent or more by weight. Kerosene is made from sweet crude oil. (Although it should be … Sweet crude is a type of crude oil classified by its low sulfur content. Typically, it also has lower levels of other impurities, and the name is a reference to the flavor; sweet crude has a faintly sweet taste, for those willing to give it a try. Get the latest miNY Light Sweet Crude Oil price (QM:NMX) as well as the latest futures prices and other commodity market news at Nasdaq. West Texas Intermediate is the underlying commodity of the New York Mercantile Exchange's oil futures contract and one of the main global oil benchmarks. The crude oil pumped from Brazil’s pre-salt fields is typically extremely low sulfur content medium to light oil. WTI Crude Oil futures are the most efficient way to trade the US light, sweet crude oil blend after a sharp rise in US crude oil production. Understanding Crude Oil in the United States. Combining these elements together, we can see that the most desirable type of crude oil is light sweet crude. It is commonly known as sweet crude and it is easier to extract, process and transport. *. Sign up to receive a daily recap of Crude Oil options trading activity. The remaining elements consist of sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen, and helium. However, the price di… Because sulfur is corrosive, light crude also causes less damage to refineries and thus results in lower maintenance costs over time. North Sea Brent Crude refers to a type of crude oil that is extracted from the North Sea in the area between the Shetland Islands and Norway. The API’s density scale is inverted, meaning that oil with an API Gravity greater than 10 will float on water and be called “light crude.” Conversely, oil with an API Gravity below 10 will sink in water and be known as “heavy crude.” Although not all light crude is sweet, most heavy crude is sour because it typically contains large amounts of sulfur as well as metals such as nickel. Sweet crude can be contrasted with the less desirable sour crude, which has a high level of sulfur content. Energy news covering oil, petroleum, natural gas and investment advice Crude Oil is a naturally occurring liquid fossil fuel resulting from plants and animals buried underground and exposed to extreme heat and pressure. Perhaps the most famous example of light sweet crude oil is known as West Texas Intermediate, or WTI crude oil, which is both lighter and sweeter than other major types of oil, such as Brent crude oil and Dubai crude oil. This live oil chart shows the current spot price of WTI light sweet crude oil on a 24-Hour basis. Crude oil futures are the world's most actively traded commodity, and the NYMEX Division light, sweet crude oil futures contract is the world's most liquid forum for crude oil future trading, as well as the world's largest-volume futures contract trading on a physical commodity. To help produce an industry-standard definition of this high-quality oil, the NYMEX exchange has put forward a definition of crude sweet oil, stating that it must possess no more than 0.42% sulfur content. CL.1 | A complete Crude Oil WTI (NYM $/bbl) Front Month futures overview by MarketWatch. Launched on November 5, 2018, physically-delivered WTI Houston (HCL) futures trade as a Globex exchange listed spread to WTI futures (CL) and Brent futures (BZ) with no leg risk. Receive exclusive insights on key FX macro themes, volatility trends, and market events through our bi-weekly report. Because the supply of crude oil is limited but demand is constantly increasing, the price of oil is also continuously rising. Sweet Crude Oil is a type of crude oil that is determined based on its sulfur content. "Sweet crude" is a term that refers to crude oil that has less than 1% sulfur. According to the density standards set out by the American Petroleum Institute (API), crude oil can also be identified as “light” or “heavy” depending on its density relative to water. Welcome to NYMEX WTI Light Sweet Crude Oil Futures. Get quick access to premium educational content, including expert-led webinars, a real-time trading simulator, and more. CL_F. Although today precise techniques are available to assess the sulfur content of a sample of oil, past generations of oil prospectors would deduce a sample’s sulfur content by literally tasting it themselves. The table below includes fund flow data for all U.S. listed Highland Capital Management ETFs. The environment is decimated. The remains of these animals and plants were buried under sand, silt, and rock. In response to changes in the physical industry, and to ensure the continued high quality and integrity of the domestic light sweet crude oil that is being delivered against our NYMEX WTI futures contracts, we will add five additional testing parameters to our WTI futures contract specifications beginning with the January 2019 contract month. LLS (Argus) vs. WTI Crude Oil Average Price Option, Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) Financial 1 Month Spread Option, Light Sweet Crude Oil European Financial Option, WTI Crude Oil 1 Month Calendar Spread Option, WTI Midland (Argus) vs. WTI Financial Futures, WTI Midland (Argus) vs. WTI Trade Month Futures, Argus LLS vs. WTI (Argus) Trade Month Futures, WTI Houston (Argus) vs. WTI Trade Month Futures, Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement. When combined with low density, sweet crude is a highly sought after type of oil which commands a high price, known as light sweet crude. US crude oil is a blend of several American streams of light sweet crude oils. If the sample tasted vaguely sweet and had a pleasant smell, that meant it was low in sulfur. Sour crude has as much as 1-2% of sulfur. … Crude oil is composed primarily of carbon and hydrogen, which represent about 85% and 12% of its chemistry, respectively. Understand how CME Group can help you navigate new initial margin regulatory and reporting requirements. Create a CMEGroup.com Account: More features, more insights. WTI Specification Change. Light Sweet Crude Oil Futures Market Trading. Explore historical market data straight from the source to help refine your trading strategies. As you look to add liquid and actively-traded contracts to your portfolio, NYMEX WTI Light Sweet Crude Oil futures lead the charge for benchmark, efficient risk management opportunities in today's global oil markets. Brent blend is a type of sweet crude oil that is used as a benchmark for the prices of other crude oils. It was formed from the remains of sea animals and plants that lived millions of years ago. Sweet crude oil possesses a sulfur content lower than 0.5% and typically also has a pleasant smell and sweet taste. © 2021 CME Group Inc. All rights reserved. Sweet crude oil is usually considered to be more desirable than sour crude, largely due to the chemical makeup … View the futures and commodity market news, futures pricing and futures trading. NYMEX WTI Light Sweet Crude Oil futures (ticker symbol CL), the world’s most liquid and actively traded crude oil contract, is the most efficient way to trade today’s global oil markets. Due to all these factors, sweet crude commands up to a $15 dollar premium per barrel over sour. 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