Platts to launch US West Coast renewable diesel price assessments Aug 1

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, will launch daily market-based US West Coast renewable diesel assessments, effective Aug. 1, 2024.

Platts has observed growing liquidity in the US renewable diesel market, particularly in California, driven by the state's low carbon fuel programs and federal decarbonization incentives. Renewable diesel has replaced at least 50% of petroleum diesel consumption in California, according to the California Air Resources Board.

Platts will launch four renewable diesel price assessments:

• 99% renewable diesel, or R99, delivered to the Los Angeles area
• 100% renewable diesel, or R100, delivered to the Los Angeles area
• 99% renewable diesel, or R99, delivered to the San Francisco area
• 100% renewable diesel, or R100, delivered to the San Francisco area

The R99 and R100 assessments will be published as an outright price in US cents/gal, as well as a differential to the front-month NYMEX ULSD futures contract.

The R99 and R100 assessments will reflect a minimum volume of 145,000 US gallons meeting the ASTM D975 specification, delivered at place via railcar -- on UP or BNSF -- to the Los Angeles and San Francisco area, respectively. FOB via barge deliveries will also be considered in the assessments and may be normalized. The assessments will reflect delivery 15-30 days forward.

The Los Angeles and San Francisco R100 assessments will be inclusive of the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard credit, blender's tax credit, and D4 biomass-based diesel Renewable Identification Number; as well as considering cap-and-trade costs.

Meanwhile, the blended Los Angeles and San Francisco R99 assessments w ill be exclusive of the LCFS credit, blender's tax credit and D4 RIN, but would still consider cap-and-trade costs.

The R100 assessment w ill reflect renewable diesel with a reference Carbon Intensity (CI) of 37.01 gCO2e/MJ.

The launch of the new assessments was first proposed in a subscriber note published May 31, available here(opens in a new tab).

The assessments will consider market information reported to Platts and published as heards throughout the day, including firm bids and offers, trades, and indicative values, as well as any other data deemed relevant to the assessment process.

The assessments will reflect a 1330 Houston time market close and follow the Platts US publishing schedule.

Please submit any feedback, comments, or questions about these assessments to mrts_biofuelsandfeedstocks@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.