Prompt-Month Energy Futures

Prices and trading activity shown are for prompt-month (see definition below) futures contracts for the energy commodities listed in the table below. Note that trading for prompt-month futures contracts ends on different dates at the end of the month for the various commodities; therefore, some commodity prices may reference delivery for the next month sooner than other commodity prices.

Product Description Listed With
Crude Oil
($/barrel)
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light sweet crude oil delivered to Cushing, Oklahoma
Contract specifications
New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX)
Gasoline-RBOB
($/gallon)
Reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) gasoline delivered to New York Harbor
Contract specifications
NYMEX
Heating Oil
($/gallon)
Heating oil delivered to New York Harbor
Contract specifications
NYMEX
Natural Gas
($/million Btu)
Natural gas delivered to the Henry Hub in Louisiana
Contract specifications
NYMEX
Coal
($/ton)
Powder River Basin (PRB) coal
Contract specifications
NYMEX
Ethanol
($/gallon)
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) denatured fuel ethanol
Contract specifications
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)


Prompt-month, also called near-month, refers to the futures contract that is closest to expiration and is usually for delivery in the next calendar month (e.g., prompt-month contracts traded in February are typically for delivery in March).

Price represents the daily settlement price for the day noted in the section heading (e.g., "Prompt-Month Energy Futures, 2/26/13 settlement").

Volume, in thousands of contracts, represents the total number of exchange-traded prompt-month futures contracts traded during the day noted in the section heading.

Prior Day Open Interest, in thousands of contracts, represents the total number of exchanged-traded prompt-month futures contracts held by all market participants at the end of the trading day previous to the day noted in the section heading (e.g., the Prior Day Open Interest shown on the "Prompt-Month Energy Futures, 2/26/13 settlement" report is the open interest at the end of the 2/25/13 trading day).


Updated: 1/26/2017