Argus Refinery Gate Values: A crucial piece of the crude supply chain puzzle
Overview
Refinery Gate Values (RGVs) are powerful tools for crude producers, traders, refiners and analysts as they can quickly show where a crude has the most value. Argus covers the market prices of crudes at their source and the cost of freight to get the oil to key refining centres. If one knows those two elements and the RGV, one can work out the refining margin, which, at a glance, shows how profitable it is to refine the crude at that location.
Argus RGVs provide dynamic product yield-based values for over 180 crudes at five refining locations across the world. They combine Argus’ refined product and energy input prices, an up-to-date crude assay library and the PIMS refining model to show what each crude is worth at regionally typical refineries of complex and simple configurations in Northwest Europe, the Mediterranean, Singapore and the US Gulf and West coasts.
RGVs can, in turn, be combined with Argus crude price and tanker freight rate assessments to give a full picture of the crude supply chain and unlock valuable insights for crude producers, refiners and traders alike.
Key features
Daily RGVs
Argus produces 1,850 daily RGVs, calculated from 185 crudes
Five regions
Argus RGVs cover NWE, USGC, USWC, Singapore, and the Med
Two refining models
RGVs are available in simple and complex refining models based on the Aspen PIMS model.
Data access
RGVs are delivered as a data feed or accessed using Argus Workspaces
Historical data
RGVs data is available from January 2025
Customers that benefit
Refiners
Compare various grades to see which offers the best return.
- Maximise returns: Compare different crude grades to identify the best margin using Argus Crude, Tanker Freight and RGVs data feeds.
- Refining efficiency: Use RGVs to analyse refining processes and improve profitability.
- Comprehensive coverage: Benefit from Argus’ extensive RGVs data across multiple refining configurations and regions.
Oil producers
Decide where to target your crude.
- Maximise profitability: Take your share of the margin by identifying the most lucrative markets for your crude.
- Strategic targeting: Determine the best destinations for your crude based on comprehensive Argus RGVs, plus crude and freight data.
- Stay competitive: Adjust your strategies by comparing your crude’s RGVs with those of competitors’ grades.
National Oil Companies
Decide where to target your crude.
- Competitive pricing: Adjust your official selling prices based on RGV comparisons with competitors.
- Market positioning: Use RGVs with Argus Crude and Tanker freight rates to strategically position your crude in the global market.
- Value illiquid crudes: Compare RGV values of crudes rarely seen in the open market with those that are to aid with valuations of difficult-to-price grades.
Product specifications
The complex model has more units enabled e.g. FCC/ Hydrocracker/ delayed coker, thus able to produce more valuable product yields (gasoline, diesel, jet) and ultimately increasing the yield value/ RGV.
