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Commodities Markets

CommoditiesSNL Energy provides comprehensive coverage of North American energy commodities. SNL’s index methodology is endorsed by the Committee of Chief Risk Officers (CCRO) and complies with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Policy Statement of Natural Gas and Electric Price Indices.1 Use our interactive online platform to access standardized prices for power, natural gas, coal, Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), oil, emissions and uranium for the U.S. and Canadian markets sourced from SNL, OTC Global Holdings, CME Group/NYMEX and North American ISOs.

ISO Data
SNL covers Day-Ahead, Hour-Ahead and hourly Real-Time LMP prices as well as hourly and forecasted loads from all North American ISOs. Gain instant access to nodal, zonal and hub price points across the U.S. and Canada. SNL also gathers marginal congestion and line losses where available.

SNL Proprietary Indexes & Fundamental Forecasts
SNL publishes daily spot power and natural gas price indexes and other price information developed through independent data collection in the wholesale electricity market. These prices are compiled by veteran analysts with knowledge of the power industry and commodity markets. Our staff receives information from market participants of all kinds to gather prices and volumetric data on next-day and forward transactions.

In 2012, SNL Energy introduced its fundamental coal forecast. Gain access to 20-year FOB price forecasts for 18 steam coal benchmarks and steam coal price assessments, plus 10-year basin-level production, demand, and inventory forecasts.

OTC Global Holdings Natural Gas and Power Forwards
OTC Global Holdings ("OTCGH" or "OTC") and its affiliate ("EOX Holdings") developed a forward pricing data service to provide customers with valuable natural gas and power forward market pricing transparency that enables companies to enhance their energy risk management processes. Forward curves are used for portfolio risk-management decision-making, risk disaggregation and for validating a company's internally-generated natural gas and electricity forward price curves. SNL redistributes OTCGH's 7-year power and natural gas forwards.

Integrated data, news and analytics.
SNL combines proprietary indexes, CME and ISO prices on a single platform and incorporates news and market commentary to provide robust analysis and market context. Our Excel® Add-in provides immediate access to data and reports including an extensive library of customizable Excel templates used to view history, create spark spreads, generate dark spreads and compare prices over time.

More data, faster with an exclusive data accuracy guarantee.
As the leading provider of energy industry intelligence and data, SNL continually improves the process of gathering, vetting and scrubbing data. As a result, we are the only provider that guarantees data accuracy.

Click the links below for more commodities coverage details:

1In 2004, the FERC determined that Io Energy and BTU, under SNL Financial, met FERC standards for creation and publication of energy indices for jurisdictional tariffs.

Download PDF Methodology (PDF) Market Summary Free Trial
Commodities Summary Pages

Power, Natural Gas and Coal Summary pages bring together ISO data, Real-Time and Day-Ahead LMPs, Forward Prices from the OTC Global Holdings, CME Group/NYMEX, and SNL Indexes and our best-in-class news and commentary. Use this page as your launching pad for more extensive commodities analysis. Download years of historical data with our easy to use Export to Excel/SNLxl button.

  • Identify differences between real time and day ahead power pricing data
  • View time series data in a tabular or graphical format
  • Export the full history or a single day of data to a refreshable SNLxl spreadsheet
SNL Commodities Watchlists

Pre-populated Watchlists provide snapshots of commonly requested locations and price types. Watchlists are easily customized to include any data location SNL currently covers. Save the Watchlist and access the updates through our interactive platform or export the data to a refreshable spreadsheet.

  • Inline charts allow quick assessments of recent history
  • Export Watchlists and chart data to refreshable Excel templates
  • Create customized Watchlists to monitor specific points of interest
OTC Global Holdings Forwards

SNL redistributes Natural Gas and Power Forwards from OTC Global Holdings (OTCGH). These 7-year curves offer a consistent, comprehensive forward view of the natural gas and power markets. Market price information is gathered from 17 brokerages under the OTCGH umbrella throughout the day to "mark" the forward natural curves at the end of each trading day.

  • Value assets with consistently generated power and natural gas curves
  • Mark end of day book value of outstanding contracts
  • Generate forward spark spreads, dark spreads, and implied heat rates at major pricing hubs
  • Integrate commodities data directly into your spreadsheets using the SNL Commodities Function (SNLxl)
News & Market Commentary

Our analysts and reporters provide regular daily market commentary together with the news behind the moves. SNL Energy provides you with the news you need to get it right, from changes in market fundamentals to the coverage of the policy decisions shaping markets of the future.

  • Commodities Market Monthly provides month-over-month and year-over-year summaries for power, natural gas and coal, identifying emerging trends as they happen
  • Extensive coverage of federal and state policy and rulemaking decisions, including the CFTC, FERC, DOE and EPA.
  • Regular, detailed analysis of emerging trends and developments in all energy markets from power, RECs, Carbon and RGGI to natural gas and coal to help you stay ahead of the curve

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SNLxl and Excel Templates

SNL has a library of pre-built Excel templates to streamline commodity analysis. Easily refresh templates with the most current data or have our expert support team build a customized template for you.

  • Compare U.S. Steam Coal physical survey prices with OTC prices from SNL and the CME group
  • Compare year-over-year spot and forward market power and natural gas prices
  • Generate Spark Spreads & Dark Spreads for major hubs and zones for day ahead, forward and real time markets
  • Integrate commodities data directly into your spreadsheets using the SNL Commodities Function (SNLxl)