OIL PRICES SAID NOW BASED ON FUTURES PRICE Energy futures now set the standard for oil pricing, said Arnold Safer, president of The Energy Futures Group Inc, a consulting firm. "Petroleum futures trading at the New York Mercantile Exchange literally set spot market prices in the U.S.," he said, adding that some oil products sellers now offer contracts based on a daily average of NYMEX prices. He also said that petroleum futures are a major market for oil companies as well as for commodity traders. His remarks were made at the National Petroleum Refiners Association.