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This study investigates the changing relationship between price and volume traded of short- and long-maturity NYMEX light sweet crude oil futures contracts and major changes in the physical crude oil market during the last decade. Monthly series for the #1-month to 84-month out maturity contracts are generated from daily price and volume data for NYMEX West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures contracts for the period from January 2000 to the middle of 2009. 3-D graphical analysis of the futures prices, contract volumes, maturity dates, and time is used to demonstrate the changing trading volume pattern and evolution of the shape of futures price term structure across various contract maturities in different market regimes. The study observes the impacts of both May 2004, when excess production capacity reached nearly zero, and September 2006, when electronic trading was implemented on the NYMEX WTI futures markets. This analysis will be used to determine if futures contract information can provide an early indication of market regime shifts and improve short-run crude oil spot price forecast models.

From 1992 through early 2004, crude oil prices were predictable by using OECD’s relative inventories and OPEC’s excess production capacity. However, since 2004, estimated inventories and excess production capacity under-predict crude oil prices. Using 3-D graphical analyzes, three regimes are identified in crude oil markets during the period from January 1992 to December 2007, reflecting market conditions and OPEC policy changes. These graphics show the changing relationship between crude oil price, inventories and excess production capacity. To reflect this, a ratchet variable, derived from cumulative excess production capacity, is incorporated into the forecasting model to reflect the changing behavior on both demand and supply sides. This model provides improved forecasts for the post Gulf War I time period over models without the ratchet mechanism.

This paper shows the effect that surplus crude oil production capacity has on short-term crude oil prices. A simple model using Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) industrial inventories and Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) surplus production capacity is introduced. This model provides improved forecasts for the post Gulf War I time period over models without the capacity variable.

This paper presents a short-term forecasting model of monthly West Texas Intermediate crude oil spot prices using readily available OECD industrial petroleum inventory levels. The model provides good in-sample and out-of-sample dynamic forecasts for the post-Gulf War time period. In-sample and out-of-sample forecasts from the model are compared with those derived from other models. The model is intended for the practicing forecaster and designed to be simple enough to implement easily in a spreadsheet or other software package, with the variables easy to update. The simplicity and ease of updating make this model attractive for investigating various scenarios to see the impacts that market changes can have on monthly crude oil spot prices, if inventories, production, imports, or demand change. Finally, the model structure can easily be updated periodically should there be a fundamental market change or a shift in the normal level of inventories.

Spot to retail price pass-through behavior of the U.S. gasoline market was investigated at the national and regional levels, using weekly wholesale and retail motor gasoline prices from January 2000 to the present. Asymmetric pass-through was found across all regions, with faster pass-through when prices are rising. Pass-through patterns, in terms of speed and time for completion, were found to vary from region to region. Spatial aggregation was investigated at the national level and the East Coast with the aggregated cumulative pass-through being greater than the volume-weighted regional pass-through when spot prices increase. These results are useful to the petroleum industry, consumers, and policy makers by providing a basis to estimate the retail price effects that result from a change in spot price.

To better understand petroleum markets, the authors established the importance of the deviation of inventory levels away from a normal level, where the normal level is comprised of seasonal movement and a general trend. Since supply and demand for petroleum are less elastic to price in the short run than is inventory, it is this deviation or relative inventory level that plays the role of absorbing unexpected shifts in demand and supply. They demonstrated theoretically that the demand for relative inventory must be negatively related to price. They estimated the relative inventory levels and associated short-run price elasticity for several OECD countries and groups of countries, and found that short-run price elasticity of demand for relative inventory is negative and statistically significant, supporting the theoretical arguments.