Environmental Matters in the Commonwealth of Kentucky

On June 27^th, light, sweet crude oil for August delivery rose as high as $142.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) before falling to $142.28 at 2:36 pm EDT.  Yesterday, the contract price shot past $140.  Light, sweet crudes are preferred by refiners because of their low sulfur content and relatively high yields of high-value products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, and jet fuel.,

Crude oil is the world’s most actively traded commodity.  The NYMEX Division light, sweet crude oil futures contract is the world’s most liquid forum for crude oil trading, as well as the world’s largest-volume futures contract trading on a physical commodity. Because of its excellent liquidity and price transparency, the contract is used as a principal international pricing benchmark.