S&P Global reflects Novorossiisk laycans for Urals CIF Augusta winter-summer change

Effective April 1, 2022, S&P Global Commodity Insights reflects summer laycans for Urals cargoes loading at Novorossiisk 10 days forward from the date of publication to 25 days forward in its CIF Augusta Urals assessments.

For cargoes loading from Primorsk or Ust-Luga, load dates will be normalized for the purpose of assessment to equivalent Novorossiisk dates.

S&P Global understands that cargoes from Primorsk and Ust-Luga typically arrive at Augusta 12-14 days after loading, whereas cargoes from Novorossiisk arrive at Augusta around five days after loading.

However, during the winter period, journeys from Novorossiisk can be delayed by up to 20 days, attributed to reduced daylight hours causing congestion through the Turkish Straits.

To account for these differences in delivery times, S&P Global reflects Novorossiisk loadings in summer (April 1 to Sept. 30) and Primorsk or Ust-Luga loadings in winter (Oct. 1 to March 31).

S&P Global reviews observed delays and may amend the base port for laycans outside of the seasonal calendar should the need arise.

Ahead of the Platts Market on Close assessment process each publishing day, S&P Global publishes the Observed Delivery Factor under the below code:

Observed Delivery Factor AODFA00

The ODF is made available via Platts Global Alert, and is published in both Crude Oil Marketwire and on PGA page 1220.

During the summer, the ODF represents how many days longer it would take a cargo from Primorsk or Ust-Luga to reach Augusta versus a cargo from Novorossiisk.

During the winter the ODF represents how many days longer it will take a cargo from Novorossiisk to reach Augusta versus a cargo from Primorsk or Ust-Luga.

For the purposes of assessment, the ODF will be added to the published laycans of bids or offers to normalize them to base port dates.

In applying the ODF to indications, S&P Global accounts for the impact of market structure on published differentials.

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