Platts to reflect Primorsk laycans for Urals CIF Augusta summer-winter change

Effective Oct. 1, 2022, Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, will reflect winter laycans for Urals cargoes loading at Primorsk 10 days forward from the date of publication to 25 days forward in its CIF Augusta Urals assessments.

For cargoes loading from Novorossiisk, load dates will be normalized for the purpose of assessment to equivalent Primorsk dates.

Platts understands that cargoes from Primorsk typically arrive at Augusta 12-14 days after loading, whereas cargoes from Novorossiisk arrive at Augusta around five days after loading.

However, during the winter period, journeys from Novorossiisk can be delayed by up to 20 days, attributed to reduced daylight hours causing congestion through the Turkish Straits.

To account for these differences in delivery times, Platts reflects Novorossiisk loadings in summer (April 1 to Sept. 30) and Primorsk loadings in winter (Oct. 1 to March 31).

Platts reviews observed delays and may amend the base port for laycans outside of the seasonal calendar should the need arise.

Ahead of the Platts Market on Close assessment process each publishing day, Platts publishes the Observed Delivery Factor under the below code: Observed Delivery Factor AODFA00

The ODF is made available via Platts Global Alert, and is published in both Crude Oil Marketwire and on PGA page 1220.

During the summer, the ODF represents how many days longer it would take a cargo from Primorsk to reach Augusta versus a cargo from Novorossiisk.

During the winter the ODF represents how many days longer it will take a cargo from Novorossiisk to reach Augusta versus a cargo from Primorsk.

For the purposes of assessment, the ODF will be added to the published laycans of bids or offers to normalize them to base port dates.

In applying the ODF to indications, Platts accounts for the impact of market structure on published differentials.

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