SUBSCRIBER NOTE: Platts to amend basis for Brent CFD differential assessments

Following a period of formal feedback, S&P Global Platts will amend the basis month used in the publication of Brent Contract for Difference (Brent CFD) differential assessments from M1 to M2 Cash BFOE from July 3, 2017.

This decision follows a subscriber note published December 6, 2016, available here: http://platts.com/subscriber-notes-details/26614089.

In line with developments in the Brent CFD market, Platts proposed to amend the basis month used in the publication of Brent CFD differential assessments.

Following the renaming of the underlying Cash BFOE contracts on October 3, 2016, Brent CFDs have been published as a differential to M1 Cash BFOE.

For example, on June 1 the basis month for all published Brent CFD differentials will be August Cash BFOE, or M1, under the current system.

Feedback from the market has confirmed that, while early trading each month is conducted as a differential to M1 Cash BFOE, the Brent CFD market shifts rapidly to trade relative to M2 Cash BFOE for the greater part of the month.

Under the change, on July 3 the basis month for all published Brent CFD differentials will be October Cash BFOE, or M2.

Platts will continue to publish bids, offers, and transactional interest as a differential to any of the three Cash BFOE months assessed by Platts: M1, M2, and M3, but will normalize these back to M2 for assessment purposes.

This change is limited entirely to the published differential values for Brent CFDs. This change impacts the following codes: PCAKA00, PCAKC00, PCAKE00, PCAKG00, AAGLU00, AAGLV00, AALCZ00, and AALDA00.

Please send all comments to europe_crude@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com.

For written comments, please provide a clear indication if comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing.

Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.