Van Eck Global’s Market Vectors exchange traded fund arm has launched the first sector-specific ETF exposed to global oil refiners.
According to a press release, the Market Vectors Oil Refiners ETF (NYSEArca: CRAK) began trading Wednesday. The new ETF has a 0.59% net expense ratio.
CRAK tries to reflect the performance of the Market Vectors Global Oil Refiners Index, a modified market cap-weighted index that follows the largest and most liquid companies in the global oil refining industry.
Top holdings include Marathon Petroleum (NYSE: MPC) 8.8%, Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) 8.7%, Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) 8.5%, Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO) 7.0%, Reliance Industries 6.7%, Holly Corp (NYSE: HFC) 6.5%, Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen 5.2%, Jx Holdings 5.2%, Galp Energia Sgps 4.1% and Formosa Petrochemical 3.9%. CRAK has 26 holdings.
Oil prices are moving toward a six-and-a-half year low Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Association revealed crude stockpiles were up 2.6 million barrels at 456.21 million barrels last week, Reuters reports.
The oil inventory update caught investors off guard, pushing WTI crude oil futures down 4.6% to $40.7 per barrel and Brent crude oil futures 3.8% lower to $46.9 per barrel.
Nevertheless, the oil refinery business may benefit from lower crude oil prices, or lower input costs. The price of finished products such as gasoline, diesel and fuel oil can affect a refinery’s profitability. Consequently, the difference between the cost of crude oil and the price of the products, or so-called crack spread, is a common indicator of the potential profits.