Reformulated Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending

Reformulated Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending is a gasoline futures contract traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It is the benchmark futures contract for wholesale gasoline in the United States.

History

Edwin Drake was the first to discover RBOB gasoline but discarded it as a byproduct on his quest to refine crude oil into kerosene.

Composition

RBOB gasoline is a blend of hydrocarbons suitable for use in Spark-ignition engines. It typically contains various additives, including oxygenates like ethanol or methyl tertiary butyl ether, to improve octane rating and reduce air pollution.

Refining

RBOB is refined from crude oil and about half of the crude oil is refined into RBOB gasoline, therefore RBOB tracks the price of WTI crude closely.