Energy Price Impulse Index
Oil moves everything. ENPI measures how hard.
ENPI captures the impulse from energy price movements — measuring not just whether oil is high but whether its trajectory is generating a positive or negative economic impulse.
The Energy Price Impulse Index (ENPI) measures the rate of change and directionality of energy prices — crude oil, natural gas, and refined products — relative to historical norms. A high ENPI indicates energy prices are rising sharply relative to trend (an inflationary impulse that compresses consumer real incomes and corporate margins). A negative ENPI indicates falling prices relative to trend (a disinflationary impulse). ENPI measures the current impulse, not a forecast of inflation.
The economic effect of energy prices comes largely from change, not level: consumers and businesses adapt to a stable price — whether $60 or $90 — but a rapid move from $70 to $110 creates acute short-term pressure that shows up in CPI, producer prices, and cost structures. ENPI captures this by measuring the first and second derivatives of price change rather than the level alone.
Energy accounts for roughly 7–8% of the US CPI basket directly, with additional indirect effects through transportation and production costs. ENPI measures the current energy-price impulse feeding into that basket. The 2021–2022 energy surge was a prominent contributor to the inflation of that period. MarketSchema publishes ENPI as objective context; it does not forecast CPI prints, a lead-time, or Fed decisions.
Yes — ENPI is a composite including crude oil (WTI and Brent), Henry Hub natural gas, and refined products (gasoline, diesel), weighted by their relative importance in the US energy consumption basket. Natural gas receives higher weight during winter months when heating demand dominates, and the index is seasonally adjusted to distinguish conditions-driven from structural price changes.