SUBSCRIBER NOTE: Platts proposes new West African crude oil assessments

Platts proposes to begin publishing daily assessments for four new West African crudes. The new assessments -- for two Nigerian grades, one Chadian grade and one Ghanaian grade -- would be launched with effect from August 1, 2015.

Platts proposes to publish assessments for Nigeria's Erha and Usan. Erha is a light sweet crude oil grade produced offshore Nigeria. Production is currently around 100,000 b/d from the Erha FPSO.

Usan is a medium sweet grade with a current production rate of around 110,000 b/d. It is produced offshore Nigeria from the Usan FPSO, which has a capacity of 180,000 b/d.

Platts also proposes to publish assessments for Chad's Doba grade. Doba is a heavy sweet acidic crude oil grade produced primarily in the south of the country. Its production is currently around 100,000 b/d, loaded from the Kome-Kribi terminal offshore Cameroon.

Finally, Platts proposes to publish assessments for Jubilee crude, produced offshore Ghana. Jubilee currently has production of around 100,000 b/d and is produced and loaded from the Kwame Nkrumah FPSO.

Specifications, nameplate production, operators and equity partners for all the crudes mentioned above are listed below.

Platts currently assesses 17 West African grades: eight Nigerian, eight Angolan, and one grade from the Republic of Congo.

Please send any feedback to europe_crude@platts.com and pricegroup@platts.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.

Crude API (deg C) Sulfur (%) Max Capacity (b/d) Operator Doba 21.1 0.10 225,000 ExxonMobil Jubilee 37.6 0.25 120,000 Tullow Oil Erha 38.6 0.16 210,000 ExxonMobil Usan 30.7 0.26 180,000 Total Crude Equity partners Doba ExxonMobil, Glencore, Petronas, CNPC, SHT Jubilee Tullow Oil, Kosmos Energy, Anadarko, GNPC, PetroSA Erha ExxonMobil, Shell, NNPC Usan Total, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Nexen, NNPC