This study seeks to explain why crude oil prices fluctuate, the main cause being the quota regime, which characterises the OPEC agreements. Given that the Saudi oil supply is inelastic in the short term, a shock in the oil market is accommodated by an immediate price change. In contrast, a dominant firm behaviour in the long term causes an output change, which is accompanied by a smaller price ...

The crude oil sector in Nigeria contributes substantially to the economy; however, these benefits are being compromised by significant subsidies on refined oil imports. The refined oil subsidy is paid primarily on imported fuel because domestic refineries cannot satisfy the national demand at current prices. Low fuel prices are considered an important benefit to the Nigerian people, where more ...

We investigate the pricing formation of natural gas markets on three different continents (Europe, Asia and North America). We find that natural gas markets showed a strong relationship with the crude oil market between 1992 and 2001 and natural gas prices tended to thermal parity with crude oil prices. From 2002 natural gas markets exhibited a less pronounced relationship with the crude oil ma...

The futures market in West Texas Intermediate crude oil was introduced in 1983 with a posted-price cash market in which the posted price changed a few times a year. By 2002, the cash price changed almost daily. Evidence from producers’ invoices shows that this initially low frequency of price changes reflects transactions prices. Using experiments, we show that the introduction of a futures mar...

OIL PRICES AND LONG-RUN RISK Robert Clayton Ready

The gas extraction technological developments of the 2000s have allowed shale gas production, which in the US has become a significant part of the total gas production. Such a significant change might have affected the long-run relationship between oil and natural gas prices postulated by several authors. By using monthly data of oil and gas prices, as well as gas quantities from 1997 to 2013, ...

a r t i c l e i n f o JEL classification: C23 E44 Q43 Keywords: Crude oil shocks Stock market prices Panel data Asymmetric adjustment Granger causality This paper proposes a panel threshold cointegration approach to investigate the relationship between crude oil shocks and stock markets for the OECD and non-OECD panel from January 1995 to December 2009. Nonlinear cointegration is confirmed for ...

We evaluated several variants of a variable biofuel subsidy and compared them with the fixed subsidy and Renewable Fuel Standard. We used two different modeling approaches. First we used a partial equilibrium model encompassing crude oil, gasoline, ethanol, corn, and ethanol by-products. Second, we used a stochastic simulation model of a prototypical ethanol plant. From the partial equilibrium ...

I discuss the short-run dynamics of commodity prices, production, and inventories, as well as the sources and effects of market volatility. I explain how prices, rates of production, and inventory levels are interrelated, and are determined via equilibrium in two interconnected markets: a cash market for spot purchases and sales of the commodity, and a market for storage. I show how equilibrium...