Welcome to OPIS White Papers. As a service to our customers, we provide this web site as a free education and research tool. It will aid your quest for solutions to current or approaching business problems or needs. To search the site, simply scan the White Papers listed below or enter a key word or phrase in the search window above.
Gasoline Economics Revisited: How Ethanol is Altering U.S. Petroleum SupplyWidening ethanol use in gasoline as a result of larger government mandates is causing important changes in the U.S. petroleum supply chain. New bulk ethanol supply markets are emerging, new blendstocks are being produced, a new compliance system to track ethanol and other biofuel use is in place (RINs), ethanol-gasoline price relationships are shifting and U.S. biofuel policy itself could change. Issues relative to compliance will likely arise; even the smallest links in the oil supply chain need to pay attention. This white paper by OPIS Publisher and chief oil analyst Tom Kloza and Senior News Editor Beth Heinsohn provides a basic roadmap to the new developments, complete with OPIS graphs and pricing data to help downstream petroleum supply professionals navigate the changed landscape. 18 pages. Read more...
The 2008 OPIS First Quarter Retail SnapshotThe highest prices ever for Winter gasoline translated into pain at the pump for most U.S. fuel marketers. OPIS has compiled retail data from the first quarter of 2008 to give you a comprehensive look at the struggle marketers have faced early this year. The violent price swings that plagued the industry for most of 2007 are still in place, and margins are getting tighter all across the country. With recaps of average regional margins as well as best and worst margins by brand and metro, use this free report sponsored by PetroProperties & Finance as a gauge for how your company stacks up in this volatile industry. 4 pages. Read more...
Leveraging Pricing Automation to Pump Up Oil Jobber ProfitsThe volatility of oil prices hitting the downstream petroleum market challenges jobbers and wholesalers to perform multiple, complex calculations daily to determine the best prices available to them for the complicated slate of gasoline and diesel fuels. Fuel buyers still using manual methods such as phone calls and spreadsheets for monitoring rack and contract prices to perform best buy calculations suffer serious disadvantages. Software/Internet systems give jobbers and wholesalers superior tools that automate collection, calculation and comparison of prices plus price notification to their customers – as shown by four scenarios and two case studies in this White Paper. 10 pages. Read more...
Putting Market Forces to Work on Climate Change: Carbon Trading on the RiseThe global carbon market in greenhouse gas emissions trading has seen substantial growth in the past seven years. Actually not one market but several in different regions of the world, they employ varying trading approaches for carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases. As one example, the European Union Emission Trading Scheme recently concluded a training period with mixed results prior to the start of the first Kyoto Budget Period (2008 to 2012). The future of the global carbon market appears highly promising and potentially huge as major corporations enter the carbon business, the Kyoto Protocol proceeds and the United States Congress considers climate-change legislation featuring a cap-and-trade system. Read more...