Accessing US Gulf coast crude: a series of white papers
Accessing US Gulf coast crude

A series of white papers

Contact me when these are available

Illuminating US Gulf coast crude
Argus US Gulf coast crude prices, including the regional light sweet marker WTI Houston and the medium sour marker Mars, reflect highly liquid and transparent pipeline trade. These coastal prices provide the clearest available valuation for crude at the US Gulf coast, the gateway to waterborne export markets. The coastal prices are expressed as diff erentials to the highly liquid and transparent CME (Nymex) Cushing futures contract.

A robust derivatives market now settles on WTI Houston, suiting it to a role as a benchmark for global crude trade. Read our three new white papers explaining the mechanics of the US markets, the Argus WTI Diff to Argus CMA Nymex, and the Argus US Gulf coast crude markers for Asia-Pacific. 

How US markets work

The pipeline basis of US markets introduces transparency unseen in cargo markets, thanks to the high iterations of trade of relatively small batches of crude.


Read this paper to understand the structure of the US market and how it applies to the pricing of rising volumes of export crude

What is the Argus WTI Diff to Argus CMA Nymex?

In the US crude markets, a key bridge from futures to physical pricing is provided by the Argus WTI Differential to Calendar Month Average (Diff to CMA) Nymex.

Understanding how this price is set and how it can be used is important to structure deals for US export crude, especially if the buyer does not want to end up with a physical position at Cushing.  

Argus US Gulf coast crude markers for Asia-Pacific

The high volume of trade and transparency in the US Gulf coast physical crude market provide robust price markers for US crude exports to Asia-Pacific. When these prices are adjusted for 4:30pm Singapore time, they can provide helpful insights on the price of physical US grades relative to Mideast Gulf, Russian and west African alternatives.

This white paper explains these US markers.

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