U.S. petroleum refinery list :https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/refinerycapacity/
132 Operating Refineries in the US only, with crude distillation capacity of 18.4 million barrels per day As of January 1st, 2025.
Location based price benchmarks for energy products :
✅USGC (U.S. Gulf Coast)Covers Houston, New Orleans, and surrounding refineries.
✅Gulf / MEG (Middle East Gulf)Covers major hubs like Fujairah (UAE), Ras Tanura (Saudi Arabia), and other Middle Eastern ports. A reference point for exports from the region.
✅ MOPS (Mean of Platts Singapore)In the Asia and Oceania region, this is for the Singapore oil spot market is commonly used as the benchmark price for trading oil products
✅The Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) crude oil futures contract is China’s domestic benchmark for crude oil, priced in yuan
✅Dubai/Oman: This is a key benchmark for Middle Eastern crude oil exported to Asia. It is an average of the prices of Dubai and Oman crude, which are both medium and sour crude oils.
✅ Platts Tapis Crude: This is a light and sweet Malaysian crude oil that serves as a regional benchmark, particularly in Singapore. Tapis is often priced higher than global benchmarks because it requires less refining.
✅ NWE (North West Europe)Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg – the key pricing hub for Europe.
✅ ARA (Amsterdam–Rotterdam–Antwerp)This tri-port region is the largest fuel trading & storage hub in Europe. ‘Platts ARA’ means barge & storage prices in this zone.
✅ JKM (Japan Korea Marker) is a widely recognized benchmark that reflects the spot market value of LNG in Northeast Asia
✅ Med (Mediterranean)Covers ports like Genoa, Lavera, Piraeus, Istanbul. Important benchmark for Southern Europe.
✅ Platts Dated BrentBrazil, as Latin America’s largest market, uses Platts Dated Brent and other Platts benchmarks for its oil and gas royalty calculations.
Metal benchmarks :
✅ LME/ London Metal Exchange : Most of the world’s non-ferrous metal trade is priced against LME benchmarks.
✅ LBMA/ London Bullion Market Association: Provides independent benchmarks for precious metals like gold and silver.
✅ SMM / Shanghai Metals Market : SMM provides extensive transactional price information and data on various metals within China and globally, using market exchanges and its internal databases.
✅ COMEX : Regional benchmark for North America, particularly the U.S. copper market.
✅ SHFE / Shanghai Futures Exchange: Reference point within mainland China for base metals.
✅ CRU index : Widely used benchmark for steel.
Chemicals :
✅ ICIS : Key benchmarks are provided by independent agencies
✅ U.S. Producer Price Index: Track overall price trends and changes.
Agricultural commodities :
✅ Chicago Board of Trade / CBOT: Prices wheat, soyabean
✅ Intercontinental Exchange/ ICE : prices cocoa, coffee, cotton, and sugar.
✅ S&P Global Platts and Argus Media:Provide price assessments for various agricultural products