New price references launched

Platts, a leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets, recently announced the launch of new price references to aid the North Sea marketplace and the new US global oil export market.

Beginning 14 March 2016, Platts will publish a new price assessment of North Sea light sweet crude on a delivered basis into Rotterdam, one of the world’s key crude import hubs. The new Dated Brent Cost-Insurance-Freight (CIF) Rotterdam assessment will be complementary to the existing Dated Brent Free-On-Board (FOB) assessment. About one quarter of the crude oil flowing into Rotterdam comes from the North Sea, another quarter comes from the Middle East, and about a fifth from the Baltic region.

Separately, Platts in February became the first price reporting agency to publish price references that bring transparency to the export value of crude oil in the US Gulf Coast, following the US government’s lifting of a 40-year-old oil export ban. Platts now publishes a half dozen new pricing points for light sweet crude oil and condensates free-on-board ship from Houston and Corpus Christi, Texas, as well as a new pricing point for Canadian heavy crude oil delivered to the US Gulf Coast.