NYMEX
RBOB Gasoline (RB) Tick Value & Contract Specs
Tick value $4.20 per tick — 42,000 gallons (1,000 barrels) of RBOB gasoline.
RBOB Gasoline futures (RB) cover 42,000 gallons — one thousand barrels — quoted in dollars per gallon. The minimum tick is $0.0001, worth $4.20 per contract, and a one-cent move is $420. Gasoline commonly travels three to eight cents in a session, so a typical day is worth $1,260 to $3,360 per contract, comparable to crude despite the smaller-looking tick.
RB is a refined product, which means it trades the refining margin as much as the price of oil. The crack spread — RB against CL — is the standard expression of that, and it is why gasoline can rally hard on a refinery fire while crude sits still. The contract is also the most seasonal of the energy complex: the switch between winter and summer blend specifications, hurricane season along the Gulf Coast, and the driving-season demand curve all leave clear fingerprints on the chart. Traders arriving from CL should note the unit change. Crude is priced per barrel, gasoline per gallon, and there are 42 gallons in a barrel — so the two contracts' tick values are not comparable at a glance. The calculator below is pre-filled with RB's specs.
- Exchange
- NYMEX
- Contract size
- 42,000 gallons (1,000 barrels) of RBOB gasoline
- Tick size
- 0.0001
- Tick value
- $4.20
- Point value (multiplier)
- $42000
- Trading hours
- Sun–Fri 6:00pm–5:00pm ET, with a daily trading halt 5:00pm–6:00pm ET
- Margin
- Margin varies by broker and typically rises into the summer driving season and around refinery outages.
How RB tick value works
Tick value is the dollar amount one futures contract gains or loses when the price moves one minimum increment (one tick).
tick value = tick size × multiplier. For RB, that is 0.0001 × $42000 = $4.20 per tick, per contract.
One contract represents 42,000 gallons (1,000 barrels) of RBOB gasoline. P&L for a move from entry to exit is (exit − entry) ÷ tick size × tick value × contracts.
RB contract months and ticker symbols
A futures ticker is three parts: the root, a one-letter delivery month, and the year. RBZ2026 is the December 2026 RB contract. The month letters skip I and L, which would read as 1 and 7 on a ticker.
| Code | Month | Listed for RB? |
|---|---|---|
| F | January | Yes — RBF |
| G | February | Yes — RBG |
| H | March | Yes — RBH |
| J | April | Yes — RBJ |
| K | May | Yes — RBK |
| M | June | Yes — RBM |
| N | July | Yes — RBN |
| Q | August | Yes — RBQ |
| U | September | Yes — RBU |
| V | October | Yes — RBV |
| X | November | Yes — RBX |
| Z | December | Yes — RBZ |
Which RB contract am I looking at?
Most charts default to the continuous front-month series rather than a dated contract — one stitched-together chart that rolls to the next month as the current one nears expiry. Every platform spells it differently, which is why the same contract appears under so many names.
| Written as | Platform | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| RB1! | TradingView | Continuous front-month contract. "2!" is the next one out, and a dated contract is written in full, e.g. RBZ2026. |
| RB00 | Barchart | Continuous front-month series. "RBZ26" style codes name a specific month and year instead. |
| RBc1 | Refinitiv / Reuters | Continuous front month; c2 is the second month out. |
| /RB | thinkorswim, tastytrade | The leading slash marks it as a future rather than a stock. A specific month is /RBZ26. |
| RB=F | Yahoo Finance | The "=F" suffix denotes the front-month futures series. |
| $RB | StockTwits, social | A cashtag, not an exchange symbol. It usually means the front month, but it is informal and ambiguous. |
A dated code such as RBZ26 always means one specific contract; the continuous forms never do. Check which you are quoting before comparing a price to someone else’s — around a roll they differ.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the tick value for RB?
- $4.20 per tick — a 0.0001 tick size × a $42000 multiplier (point value).
- What is one RB contract worth?
- One contract represents 42,000 gallons (1,000 barrels) of RBOB gasoline. Notional value = price × $42000; use the tick value calculator with the current price for an exact figure.
- Which exchange lists RB?
- RBOB Gasoline (RB) trades on the NYMEX.
- What are the trading hours for RB?
- Sun–Fri 6:00pm–5:00pm ET, with a daily trading halt 5:00pm–6:00pm ET.
- How much margin do I need to trade RB?
- Margin varies by broker and typically rises into the summer driving season and around refinery outages.
- What are the RB contract months?
- RB lists January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December.
- What does RBZ2026 mean?
- It is one specific RB contract: the root RB, the delivery-month code Z, and the year. Z is December, so RBZ2026 is the December 2026 contract. The codes run F G H J K M N Q U V X Z for January through December — I and L are skipped because they read as 1 and 7 on a ticker.
- What is RB00, RB1! or /RB?
- All three name the same thing: the continuous front-month RB contract, written differently by different platforms. Barchart uses RB00, TradingView RB1!, thinkorswim and tastytrade /RB, Yahoo Finance RB=F, and RB on social media is usually written $RB. None of them is a separate instrument — each stitches together whichever dated contract is currently the front month.
- How is P&L calculated for RB?
- P&L = (exit price − entry price) ÷ 0.0001 tick size × $4.20 tick value × number of contracts. Use the tick value calculator to compute this directly.
More futures contract specs
- HO — NY Harbor ULSDTick value $4.20 · NYMEX
- MNG — Micro Henry Hub Natural GasTick value $1.00 · NYMEX
- CL — Crude Oil (WTI)Tick value $10.00 · NYMEX
- MCL — Micro WTI Crude OilTick value $1.00 · NYMEX
See all futures contract specs or use the futures contract & tick value calculator with any symbol or custom specs.
Specs last reviewed 2026-09-15. Exchanges can amend contract specs — always confirm against the exchange or your broker before trading.