Platts proposes Dated Brent move to 10-25 days

Platts invites written comments and further discussion on its plan to amend assessment guidelines for Dated Brent and cash Brent, as outlined in Platts' Crude Oil Technical Workshop in London on June 10, 2011.

In the forum, Platts proposed to widen the date range reflected in the Dated Brent assessment to 10-25 days forward, instead of the current 10-21 days forward.

As part of this change, Platts would only consider in its assessment of cash Brent those crudes where the cargoes are nominated 25 days in advance of loading, instead of the current 21 days.

The crude oils currently forming Platts' Brent assessments are Brent, Forties, Ekofisk and Oseberg.

At the same time, Platts would move to expire its front-month cash Brent assessments in line with a 25-day nomination period.

In engagements with the marketplace, and in the June 10 workshop, Platts stated that these changes could be made within six to 15 months from date of the forum.

Following feedback to date, Platts is considering an implementation date of January 6, 2012.

Platts expects to confirm a specific implementation date in mid-September, following a review of all comments.

Separately, Platts continues to analyze the merits of including additional grades in the Brent assessment, and also the potential use of escalators for the lighter crude grades, but no specific proposal is being made at this time.

Please send comments and questions by September 9 to: jorge_montepeque@platts.com, dave_ernsberger@platts.com, joel_hanley@platts.com, with a copy to pricegroup@platts.com and Europe_crude@platts.com.

Copies of the presentation slides from the June 10 forum are available on request to the same email group, and shall shortly be posted online at www.platts.com.