WTI
West Texas Intermediate, a crude-oil benchmark traded at Cushing, Oklahoma.
Market glossary
Plain-English terms for market and cost analysis.
Use these definitions to read NETSPIRES indicators without confusing a benchmark, calculation or scenario with a commercial transaction price.
Brent
A widely used international crude-oil benchmark associated with North Sea production.
Spot price
A price for a near-term open-market transaction at a specified location.
FOB
Free on board. The quoted basis excludes costs incurred after the named loading point.
Henry Hub
A Louisiana natural-gas pricing and delivery benchmark.
Mont Belvieu
A Texas trading and storage hub used as a reference for natural-gas liquids such as propane.
Observed
A value reported by an identified source.
Derived
A value calculated deterministically from observed inputs, such as month-over-month change.
Assumption
A documented engineering or economic input that is not directly observed for the represented case.
Model output
An estimated scenario result; never an observed transaction price.
Feedstock
A raw material consumed by a conversion process, such as propane for a PDH route.
Pass-through
The portion of an upstream cost change reflected downstream; it is rarely immediate or complete.
Lag
The time between an upstream change and a possible downstream commercial effect.