Petroleum Marketing Program

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION
Washington, D. C. 20585

Draft
OMB No. 1905-0174
Expiration Date: 11/30/0#
Version No.: 2007.001

EIA-856
MONTHLY FOREIGN CRUDE OIL ACQUISITION REPORT
INSTRUCTIONS
1. QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions about Form EIA-856 after reading the
instructions, please call our toll-free number 1-800-638-8812. Firms
located in the Washington, DC metropolitan area should call (301)
495-8440.

2. PURPOSE

6. COPIES OF SURVEY FORMS, INSTRUCTIONS
AND DEFINITIONS
Copies in portable document format (PDF) and spreadsheet
format (XLS) are available on EIA's website at:
www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/survey_forms/pet_survey_forms.html

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) Form EIA-856, "Monthly
Foreign Crude Oil Acquisition Report," is used to collect data on the
cost and quantities of foreign crude oil (by country of origin) acquired
for importation into the United States, including U.S. territories and
possessions. The data are used by the Department of Energy, the
International Energy Agency (IEA), other Federal agencies, and
industry analysts for forecasting and analytical purposes.

You may also access the materials by following the steps below:

3. WHO MUST SUBMIT

Files must be saved to your personal computer. Data cannot be
entered interactively on the website.

The Form EIA-856 is mandatory pursuant to Section 13(b) of the
Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-275) and
must completed by all firms that were reporting data as of June 1982,
regardless of the total volumes of crude oil that were acquired for
import. In addition, all other firms that acquired more than 500,000
barrels of foreign crude oil in the report month for importation into the
United States must submit an EIA-856 report for that month.
Section 9 explains the possible sanctions for failing to report.

·
·
·
·

7. HOW TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY FORM
General Instructions
For the purpose of this report:
·

the corporate entity, hereafter referred to as the "firm," for
which the report is filed, is considered to be the parent
company and the consolidated entities (if any) which it
directly or indirectly controls, taken altogether. The report will
be filed for both the firm's domestic and foreign affiliates
which acquire foreign crude oil for landing in the United
States.

·

crude oil is understood to include lease condensate. If your
definition of crude oil differs from this, provide your definition
of crude oil in the Comments section in Part III of your first
submission of the EIA-856.

·

the United States includes the 50 States, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and all American
Territories and Possessions.

4. WHEN TO SUBMIT
The Form EIA-856 must be submitted to the EIA no later than 30
calendar days after the close of each reference month (e.g., if the
reference month is March 2007, the report must be submitted to the
EIA by April 30, 2007).

5. WHERE TO SUBMIT
Completed forms may be submitted by facsimile, e-mail, or mail.
Fax completed forms to: (301) 495-8483
E-mail forms to: [email protected]
Secure File Transfer forms to:
https://idc.eia.doe.gov/upload/noticeoog.jsp
Mail completed forms to:
Energy Information Administration, EI-45
U.S. Department of Energy
PO 8279
Silver Spring, MD 20907
Attn: EIA-856

Go to EIA’s website at www.eia.doe.gov
Click on Petroleum
Click on Petroleum Survey Forms located in the
References box on the right side of the page
Select the materials you want.

Report all acquisitions made for the purpose of Importation into
the United States by your firm or agent. Include purchases,
exchange receipts, equity crude oil, and buy-back oil. Include all
acquisitions that your firm will own or expects to own at the time
of importation, whether or not the crude is to be imported under
your firm's license. Transactions which have not previously been
reported should be included in the current month's submission.
Submissions of unreported transactions should occur as soon as
possible after the unreported transaction is identified. Cargos, or
portions of cargos of foreign crude oil which were acquired and
reported in a previous month, and were subsequently sold or
delivered on exchange in the report month or are no longer

EIA-856, “Monthly Foreign Crude Oil Acquisition Report”

Page 1

intended for importation into the United States, should be reported as
a resubmission.
If a vessel loads crude at more than one port, or more than one crude
type is loaded at a single port (except when the crude streams are
commingled in the same tank), report each crude parcel acquired as a
separate transaction.
Report all prices in U.S. dollars and cents per barrel (e.g., $34.14).
Report all volumes in 42 U.S. gallon barrels rounded to the nearest
barrel. For example, report 245,543.54 bbl as 245,544 bbl.
Report all data according to the most accurate records available to the
firm at the time of filing. Where data to be reported are not yet
finalized in the firm's accounting records, the firm's best estimate
based on interim records may be reported. Estimates should be
reviewed when more complete information is available and, if
appropriate, resubmitted in accordance with the provisions outlined
under Resubmissions below.

resubmission is needed. For each transaction that is revised,
report all data elements, even those elements that did not
change. For the elements that are changed, enter the corrected
value/information. In correcting volumes or prices, enter the full
(i.e., corrected) volume or price, not the net change.

PART I. IDENTIFICATION DATA
Report Period: Enter the year and month for which this form is
being submitted.
Enter the 10-digit EIA ID Number. If you do not have a number,
submit your report leaving this field blank. EIA will advise you of
the number.
Enter the name and mailing address of the reporting company,
contact name, telephone number, fax number and email
address.
Enter the month, day, and year this report is being filed.

Note: For those cargos for which the cost of the crude oil is
determined after the report month in which it is acquired and reported
to EIA (e.g., "netback" pricing), all information about the cargo should
be included except price information which should be reported as
zeroes. A reference to this transaction should be placed in the
Comments section of Part III. When the price is determined in
accordance with the terms of the purchasing agreement, the
transaction must be resubmitted with the next regularly scheduled
report.
Canadian crudes are often imported into the United States in relatively
small pipeline lots. Therefore, in order to help minimize reporting
requirements, companies may aggregate identical types of
transactions of Canadian oil purchased from the same vendor and
imported via pipeline (e.g., spot-f.o.b.-third party purchases of
Canadian Lloydminster).
Resubmissions
Resubmissions are required:
·

If cargos (or a portion of a cargo) of foreign crude oil which were
acquired and reported in a previous month and were subsequently
sold or delivered on exchange in the report month and/or are no
longer intended for importation into the United States.

·

If the price previously reported in column (m) or (o), either on the
original report or on a prior resubmission, changes by plus or
minus five percent (+5%), or if the quantity reported in column (I),
either on the original report or on a prior resubmission, changes by
plus or minus five percent (+5%).

·

For errors in all other columns, except column (n), for which
resubmissions are required for material changes only.

Each resubmission will establish a new base to which the five percent
threshold would be applied in determining whether subsequent
resubmissions are required (i.e., in applying the five percent threshold,
the sum or net of all changes to the previously reported price or
volume should be used). A retroactive price adjustment which
changes the price(s) of any previously reported transaction(s) by plus
or minus five percent (+5%) would necessitate a resubmission of that
(those) transaction(s).
All revisions must be submitted within 120 days after the cargo was
originally reported. However, EIA must be notified of significant
changes discovered after 120 days and will determine if a

Type of Report: Check the box which indicates whether this form
is: (1) an Original, or (2) a Resubmission. If this is a
resubmission, enter the date of the report for which this report is
a resubmission.

PART II. SUMMARY DATA
Total Acquisitions: Report the aggregate volume of foreign
crude oil acquired by the firm in the report month for importation
into the United States. All relevant acquisitions are to be
included, regardless of the terms and/or conditions under which
they were acquired. The total volume should equal the sum of
all volumes reported in Part III column (I) for the report month.
Volumes for resubmissions should not be included in this total.
Offshore Inventories: Report the aggregate volume of foreign
crude oil owned by the firm, intended for eventual importation
into the United States, and which is held in storage (either in
terminals or floating) outside the United States and/or is enroute
to the United States as of the end of the report month. The
residual of cargos that had begun to be off-loaded during the
report month but had not completed such off-loading should be
excluded from this number.

PART III. TRANSACTIONS
Number the pages of your Part III Transactions. For example,
the first of two pages would be page 1 of 2.
EIA ID Number: Enter the 10-digit identification number
assigned to the reporting firm for this survey.
Report Period: Enter the year and month for which this form is
being submitted.
Enter the month, day, and year this report is being filed.
Column Instruction
(a)

Transaction Number: Number each original
transaction consecutively for reference purposes. If
more than one sheet is required, continue the
number sequence.

(b)

Type of Transaction: Enter the appropriate letter or
letters which designate the type of transaction:

EIA-856, “Monthly Foreign Crude Oil Acquisition Report”

Page 2

H -

Cargo acquired directly from a host government or
its agent,

T -

Cargo acquired directly from a nonaffiliated third
party.

A -

Cargo acquired from an affiliated company that is
not part of the firm,

AH

- Affiliate-host government
following Note), or

acquisition

(see

AT

- Affiliate-third party acquisition (see following Note).

Note: There are some circumstances wherein a firm's
intracorporate transfer price from its international supply
organization to its domestic operating arm may be submitted
in lieu of an arms-length price (see Acquisition Price, Item
(m), later in this section for specifics).
For such
intracorporate transfer prices, indicate, to the extent
possible, the type of transaction by the supply organization.
Transactions in which crude oil acquired by the supply
organization from a host government under buy-back, equity,
concessionary, or other non-market conditions, should be
coded "AH." If your company's supply organization
purchases crude from an unaffiliated third party, and the
reporting of a transfer price is permitted under the terms of
column (m), label the transaction "AT."

(h)

Port of Destination: Enter the appropriate 4-digit U.S.
Port Code to designate the port at which the crude is
expected to be discharged. (See Appendix B for a list
of U.S. Port Codes.) This should correspond to the
Port of Destination specified on the bill of lading. If the
U.S. Port is unknown at the time of this report,
indicate the port where transshipment, lightering, or
terminalling activities are expected to occur.

(I)

Date of Landing: Enter the year and month of
(expected) landing. For example, report January
2007 as 0701.

(j)

Vessel: Enter the name of the vessel in which crude
was loaded. Abbreviate as necessary. For Canadian
crude imported by pipeline, enter the name of the
pipeline, if known, or enter “Pipeline."

(k)

Contract/Point Code: Enter the two-letter code which
will indicate the terms and location of the acquisition.
The first letter of the code will be "S," "C," "E,” “N,” or
“T” which designates whether the acquisition was
a(n):
S - Spot purchase,
C - Contract/term or continuing supply agreement,
E - Exchange agreement,

(c&d)Country/Crude Code. and Crude Type: In column (c), enter the
country/stream code. (See Appendix A for a list of codes.)
Enter the generic name of the crude stream in column (d)
(e.g., Bonny Light, Maya, etc.). If there is no country/stream
code listed in Appendix A for a particular crude, enter only
the two-letter country-of-origin designator in column (c) and
the generic name in column (d).
(e)

(f)

(g)

N - Netback or other agreement of a contract or
continuing supply agreement nature wherein
the price paid is to be determined at a future
date (e.g., five days after landing), or
T - Same as "N" but the purchase was not in
association with a continuing supply
agreement (e.g., a spot purchase).

Gravity: Report the actual gravity of the crude (not merely
the nominal gravity as given in Appendix A) to the nearest
tenth of a degree. Do not round up (e.g., gravities from
39.00 to 39.09 should be reported as 39.0). The actual
gravity may differ from the nominal gravity associated with
the particular stream.

The second letter of the code will be "F," “P,” “U,” “T,"
or "R" which designates where the cargo was
purchased:
F - Cargo acquired in country-of-origin with f.o.b.
terms,

Date of Loading: Report the year, month, and day
(YYMMDD) that the loading of the cargo was completed in
the country-of-origin for exportation to the United States. In
those cases in which the cargo was acquired by the firm at
some time after loading in the country of-origin, report the
date on which that cargo was acquired by the firm. Dates
on which a cargo was transshipped from an intermediate
facility should not be reported as the Date of Loading
unless that is the date on which the cargo was acquired by
the firm.

P - Cargo acquired in country-of-origin with CIF or
non-f.o.b. terms,
U - Cargo acquired at U.S. port-of-entry with CIF
terms,
T - Cargo acquired at U.S. port-of-entry with f.o.b.
terms, or
R - Cargo acquired enroute or at an intermediate
point (e.g., a terminal or trans shipment
center).

Port of Loading: Enter the original port in the country of
origin at which the crude was loaded. Abbreviate as
necessary. For Canadian crude imported by pipeline, enter
the point at which the crude entered the trunkline system. In
cases where the original port of loading is not known (e.g.,
in cases where the cargo was acquired after loading), enter
the notation "NA."
A transshipment facility should not be reported as the Port of
Loading unless that was the location at which the cargo was
acquired by the firm.

For example, if under the terms of a continuing supply
agreement, a respondent takes title to a shipment of oil
at the port of loading under f.o.b. terms, then that
respondent should enter "CF" for that shipment.
(I)

Volume Acquired: Report the actual volume, in whole
barrels, of each crude parcel that was acquired in the

EIA-856, “Monthly Foreign Crude Oil Acquisition Report”

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importation. (While these charges are normally
treated as non-purchase costs associated with
importing or "landing" foreign oil, they are explicitly
excluded by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
They are reported separately here to enable the DOE
to accurately fulfill its obligations to the IEA.) Do not
include any charges which are reported in Landed
Cost (column (o)).

report month for importation into the United States. All such
acquisitions should be reported. Volumes/cargos previously
reported to EIA on the EIA-856 but given up during the
report month (i.e., either sold or delivered on exchange), or
which are no longer intended for importation into the U.S.,
should be reported as resubmissions (see Resubmissions
in Section 7). Volumes/cargos acquired and subsequently
given up in the same month (i.e., the report month) should
not be reported.
(o)

Landed Cost: Report as the Landed Cost price the cost
to the firm, in dollars per barrel (e.g., $32.48), to
purchase and transport the foreign crude oil to the
United States. The Landed Cost price should include
the price paid to acquire the crude (column (m)) plus
the cost of transportation from the point of acquisition
up to the point of discharge, including insurance,
transshipping fees, and lightering fees. Transportation
and other charges incurred in moving the cargo from
the discharge port to the refinery should not be
included. Do not include charges incurred at the
discharge port, e.g., import tariffs or fees, wharfage
charges, and demurrage charges.

(p)

Days of Credit: The number of days of credit extended
to the firm by the seller is not required to be reported.
This information is optional.

(q)

Name of Vendor: Enter the name of the vendor of this
shipment of crude oil.

Since the EIA-856 is filled on a cargo-specific basis, it is
implicit that the reported acquisitions will have been loaded
by the time the report was filed. In cases where foreign crude
oil was acquired but not loaded by the time the report was
filed, those parcels should be reported as soon as the
cargo-specific data are available (i.e., presumably when the
volumes are loaded).
(m) Acquisition Price: Enter the price, in dollars per barrel, that the
firm paid to acquire the cargo of crude oil. Premia and
discounts charged to, or given to, the purchasing firm by
the seller are to be included (i.e., added or subtracted,
respectively, in computing the price paid). All export taxes
or fees assessed by the country of exportation should also
be included. Prices need not be reported for exchange
transactions. A resubmission is required if a reported
transaction is subsequently subjected to retroactive price
adjustments that change the previously reported price by
plus or minus five percent (+5%).
The intracorporate transfer price charged to the U.S.
domestic arm of the firm may be substituted for the firm's
actual acquisition price if:

Comments: Report any occurrence that could explain variation
in the data reported by your firm. List the Transaction
Number(s) from column (a) which refers to the explanation.

(1) The oil is acquired from a producing government, or its
wholly controlled agent, as a result of concessionary
agreements between the reporting firm's international
purchasing organization and the producing
government. Likewise, if the oil is obtained in payment
for services rendered to the producing government
(such as the company's equity share of production),
then the transfer price to the domestic operating
company may be similarly reported as the acquisition
price. In these cases where a transfer price is
reported, the purchase is coded as an affiliate/host
government purchase according to the instruction
given in (b) above.

8.

(2) Occasionally, oil purchased by the firm from an
unaffiliated third party may be physically commingled
with the purchasing firm's existing stocks (prior, or
subsequent to loading on a ship or into a pipeline). In
the case where a portion of these stocks or shipments
is later designated as bound for U.S. importation and
the U.S. bound shipment cannot be identified with a
specific purchase or purchases by the firm due to
physical commingling of the oil, the firm's
intracorporate transfer price to the U.S. domestic
operating arm may be reported as the acquisition
price. The parcel should be coded as an affiliate/third
party purchase according to the instructions given in
(b) above.
(n)

Other Cost: Report separately as Other Costs, in dollars per
barrel, demurrage, agents fees, import tariffs and fees,
wharfage, and any pipeline charges for movement of oil
from offshore discharge points to the port of actual

PROVISIONSREGARDING
CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION

The information reported on Form EIA-856 will be kept
confidential and not disclosed to the public to the extent that it
satisfies the criteria for exemption under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. §552, the DOE regulations, 10
C.F.R. §1004.11, implementing the FOIA, and the Trade Secrets
Act, 18 U.S.C. §1905. The Energy Information Administration
(EIA) will protect your information in accordance with its
confidentiality and security policies and procedures.
The Federal Energy Administration Act requires the EIA to
provide company-specific data to other Federal agencies when
requested for official use. The information reported on this form
may also be made available, upon request, to another
component of the Department of Energy (DOE); to any
Committee of Congress, the General Accounting Office, or other
Federal agencies authorized by law to receive such information.
A court of competent jurisdiction may obtain this information in
response to an order. The information may be used for any
nonstatistical purposes such as administrative, regulatory, law
enforcement, or adjudicatory purposes.
Disclosure limitation procedures are applied to the statistical
data published from EIA-856 survey information to ensure that
the risk of disclosure of identifiable information is very small.
Information from this form shall be provided to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS) of the Department of Labor as a primary
input for calculating the price indices for foreign crude oil.

9. SANCTIONS

EIA-856, “Monthly Foreign Crude Oil Acquisition Report”

Page 4

The timely submission of Form EIA-856 by those required to report is
mandatory under Section 13(b) of the Federal Energy Administration
Act of 1974 (FEAA) (Public Law 93-275), as amended. Failure to
respond may result in a civil penalty of not more than $2,750 per day
for each violation, or a fine of not more than $5,000 per day for each
criminal violation. The government may bring a civil action to prohibit
reporting violations which may result in a temporary restraining order
or a preliminary or permanent injunction without bond. In such civil
action, the court may also issue mandatory injunctions commanding
any person to comply with these reporting requirements.

10.
FILING
FORMS
WITH
GOVERNMENT AND ESTIMATED
BURDEN

FEDERAL
REPORTING

Respondents are not required to file or reply to any Federal collection
of information unless it has a valid OMB control number. Public
reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to
average 6.1 hours per response, including the time of reviewing
instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden
estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information including
suggestions for reducing this burden to: Energy Information
Administration, Statistics and Methods Group, EI-70, 1000
Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20585; and to the
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management
and Budget, Washington, D.C. 20503.

EIA-856, “Monthly Foreign Crude Oil Acquisition Report”

Page 5

11. DEFINITIONS
Acquisition (foreign crude oil) - All transfers of ownership of
foreign crude oil to the firm, irrespective of the terms of that transfer.
Acquisitions thus include all purchases and exchange receipts as
well as any and all foreign crude acquired under reciprocal buy-sell
agreements or acquired as a result of a buy-back or other
preferential agreement with a host government.

Crude oil is considered as either domestic or foreign according to the
following:
Domestic: Crude oil produced in the United States or from its
outer continental shelf as defined in 43 U.S.C. §1331.
Foreign: Crude oil produced outside the United States.

Affiliate - An entity which is directly or indirectly owned, operated, or
controlled by another entity. See Firm.
Buy-Back Oil - Crude oil acquired from a host government whereby
a portion of the government's ownership interest in the crude oil
produced in that country may or should be purchased by the
producing firm.

Demurrage - The charge paid to the vessel owner or operator for
detention of a vessel at the port(s) beyond the time allowed, usually
72 hours, for loading and unloading.
Equity Crude Oil - The proportion of production which a concession
owner has the legal and contractual right to retain.

CIF (Cost, Insurance, and Freight) - A sales transaction in which
the seller pays for the transportation and insurance of the goods up
to the port of destination specified by the buyer.

Exchange - Any transaction in which quantities of crude oil, or any
other petroleum product, are received or given up in return for other
crude oil or petroleum products.

Concession - The operating right to explore for and develop
petroleum fields in consideration for a share of production in kind
(equity oil).

Firm - An association, company, corporation, estate, individual, joint
venture, partnership, sole proprietorship, or any other entity,
however organized, including: (a) charitable or educational
institutions; (b) the Federal Government, including corporations,
departments, Federal agencies and other instrumentalities; (c) and
State and local governments.

Concessionary Purchases - The quantity of crude oil exported
during the reporting period which was acquired from the producing
government under terms which arise from the firm's participation in a
concession. It includes preferential crude where the reporting firm's
access to such crude is derived from a former concessionary
relationship.
Consolidated Entity - (See Firm)

A firm may consist of (1) a parent entity, including the consolidated
and unconsolidated entities (if any) that it directly or indirectly
controls; (2) a parent and its consolidated entities only; (3) an
unconsolidated entity; or (4) any part or combination of the above.
These are defined as:
(a) Parent - A firm that is not directly or indirectly controls another
entity.

Contract - (See Term Agreement)
Crude Oil - A mixture of hydrocarbons that exists in liquid phase in
natural under-ground reservoirs and remains liquid at atmospheric
pressure after passing through surface separating facilities.
Depending upon the characteristics of the crude stream, it may also
included:
(a) Small amounts of hydrocarbons that exist in gaseous phase in
natural underground reservoirs but are liquid at atmospheric
pressure after being recovered from oil well (casinghead) gas
in lease separators and are subsequently commingled with the
crude stream without being separately measured. Lease
condensate recovered as a liquid from natural gas wells in
lease or field separation facilities and later mixed into the
crude stream is also included;
(b) Small amounts of nonhydrocarbons produced with the oil, such
as sulfur and various metals;
(c) Drip gases, and liquid hydrocarbons produced from oil sands,
gilsonite, and oil shale.
Liquids produced at natural gas processing plants are excluded.
Crude oil is refined to produce a wide array of petroleum products,
including heating oils; gasoline, diesel and jet fuels; lubricants;
asphalt; ethane, propane, and butane; and many other products
used for their energy or chemical content.

(b) Parent and its Consolidated Entities - A parent and those firms
(if any) directly or indirectly controlled by the parent which are
consolidated with the parent for purposes of financial statements
prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles historically and consistently applied. An individual shall
be deemed to control a firm which is directly controlled by him or
by his father, mother, spouse, children, or grandchildren.
(c) Unconsolidated Entity - A firm directly or indirectly controlled by
a parent but not consolidated with the parent for purpose of
financial statements prepared in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles. An unconsolidated entity includes
any firm consolidated with the unconsolidated entity for purposes
of financial statements prepared in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles historically and consistently
applied. An individual shall be deemed to control a firm which is
directly controlled bv him or by his father, mother, spouse,
children, or grandchildren.
(d) Affiliate - An entity either partially or totally owned and/or
controlled by another firm and which may or may not be one of
the firm's consolidated entities.
(e) Parent and Affiliated Firms - A parent firm together with those
firms which are its consolidated and unconsolidated entities.

EIA-856, “Monthly Foreign Crude Oil Acquisition Report”

Page 6

F.O.B. Price - The price actually charged at the producing country's
port of loading. The reported price should be after deducting any
rebates and discounts or adding premia where applicable and should
be the actual price paid with no adjustment for credit terms.
Host Government - The government (including any government
controlled firm engaged in the production, refining or marketing of
crude oil or petroleum products) of the foreign country in which the
crude oil is produced.
Landed Cost - Landed Cost represents the dollar per barrel price of
crude oil at the port of discharge. Included are the charges
associated with the purchase, transporting, and insuring of a cargo
from the purchase point to the port of discharge. Not included are
charges incurred at the discharge port (e.g., import tariffs or fees,
wharfage charges, and demurrage charges).
Lease Condensate -A mixture consisting primarily of pentanes and
heavier hydrocarbons which is recovered as a liquid from natural gas
in lease separation facilities. This category excludes natural gas
liquids, such as butane and propane, which are recovered at
downstream natural gas processing plants or facilities.
Netback Purchase - Refers to a crude oil purchase agreement
wherein the price paid for the crude is determined by sales prices of
the types of products that are derivable from that crude as well as
other considerations (e.g., transportation and processing costs).
Typically, the price is calculated based on product prices extant on
or near the cargo's date of importation.

Spot Purchase - A spot purchase transaction is a purchase which
does not fall under the terms of a continuing supply arrangement.
The conditions of the transaction between the importer and the seller
determine whether a particular purchase is spot. For instance, in the
case where a company has an on-going crude supply contract with a
supplier, the crude supplied under that contract is treated as term
even if purchased at a spot market price, so long as it is supplied to
the importer under the continuing supply arrangement. If, on the
other hand, the supplier delivers crude outside the conditions of the
on-going supply arrangement, then the purchase covering such
supply should be reported as a spot transaction.
DOE is aware of the difficulty in identifying spot transactions, and
asks the respondents to indicate spot transactions where they
consider the conditions of the purchase to conform to their own
judgement of spot transactions outside of normal term
arrangements.
Stream – Crude oil produced in a particular field or a collection of
crude oils with similar qualities from fields in close proximity, which
the petroleum industry usually describes with a specific name, such
as Saudi Light.
Term Agreement - A term or contract agreement is any written or
unwritten agreement between two parties in which one party agrees
to supply a commodity on a continuing basis to a second party for a
price or for other considerations.
Third Party Transactions - Third party transactions are arms-length
transactions between nonaffiliated firms. For the purpose of this
report, producing country-to-company transactions are not
considered to be third party transactions. (See Instructions for Part
III, Column (b))
Transshipment - A method of ocean transportation whereby ships
offload their oil cargo to a deepwater terminal, floating storage
facility, temporary storage, or to one or more smaller tankers from
which or in which the oil is then transported to a market destination.

EIA-856, “Monthly Foreign Crude Oil Acquisition Report”

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