Platts to launch carbon intensity calculations, carbon offset premium assessments for 14 different crude fields Oct 1

S&P Global Platts will begin publishing monthly carbon intensity calculations and daily carbon offset premiums for 14 separate crude oil fields, effective Oct. 1, 2021.

Platts will start publishing monthly calculations of crude oil field carbon intensity in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per barrel of oil equivalent (kgCO2e/boe); monthly calculations of transportation carbon intensity along one relevant route per crude in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per barrel (KgCO2e/b); and daily offset premium assessments in $/b for both using the daily Platts Carbon Removal Credit (CRC) voluntary carbon credit assessment.

Measuring the Carbon Intensity (CI) of different commodities has become one of the ways the market has started to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions from specific types of production. While CI is currently being used by the market as a way to determine the volume of carbon credits needed to offset the GHG emissions of specific activities, CI has the capacity to eventually act as an attribute for specific commodities. In the case of crude oil, CI is expected to eventually act as an additional attribute for a specific barrel of crude, similar to API, sulfur percentage, or TAN.

The Platts Carbon Intensity methodology will be designed to reflect the value of upstream production for a specific crude grade, which reflects CI in its value.

Platts upstream carbon intensity calculation will measure the impact of GHG emissions from well production to the storage terminal. Emissions generated during the exploration and drilling stages are currently not included as part of the Platts upstream CI calculation. Results will be calculated using the Oil Production Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimator (OPGEE) 3.0 model, combined with proprietary research and data from Platts Analytics.

Platts midstream carbon intensity calculation will measure the carbon intensity for one transport route per crude from the storage terminal to the most typical refining hub. This can include pipeline, rail or shipping routes.

Below are the assumptions that Platts will take into consideration when calculating the midstream carbon intensity for shipping routes.

Shipping assumptions

Vessel and cargo size: Aframax with 600K barrels

Load Factor: 0.8

Speed: 12.5 knots

Fuel: HSFO

Heating of cargo or volume losses are not included in Platts CI transport calculations.

Platts has also launched carbon intensity premiums for both the upstream and midstream calculations which reflect the cost to offset the emissions from each of the crudes, in addition to a separate premium reflecting the offsetting cost for each specific transportation route. Crude streams and different transportation routes have a variety of carbon intensities depending on where the crude comes from and the distance to the refinery.

Depending on the carbon intensity of each crude and carbon intensity of the route, the calculation is a $/b indication of how much it would cost to use the carbon removal credit to offset the associated GHG emissions from the production of the crude as well as the route in question.

These new assessments will be available in Crude Oil Marketwire; on Platts Fixed Pages PGA 4200 and PCR 4200; as well as in Platts Dimensions Pro and in the Platts Pricing database under the following codes:

Please send any feedback to Platts_Carbon@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com.

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