SUBSCRIBER NOTE: Platts discontinues Zarzaitine crude oil assessments

Platts has discontinued its FOB La Skhirra Zarzaitine outright and differential assessments effective December 1, 2015, as proposed in a note published on April 23. Platts has discontinued these assessments due to low export volumes and low spot market liquidity for the grade.

Platts assessed FOB La Skhirra Zarzaitine on a daily basis, reflecting cargoes of between 60,000-140,000 mt loading out of the Mediterranean port of La Skhirra, in Tunisia. Prior to the discontinuation, Platts had been publishing both a FOB La Skhirra Zarzaitine differential assessment (AALOY00) and an outright assessment (AAHMO00). These assessments appeared on Platts Global Alert page MH1234, and in the Platts Crude Oil Marketwire and Platts Oilgram Price Report.

Zarzaitine, which is produced in Algeria, is delivered via pipeline to the Tunisian port of La Skhirra on the Mediterranean, where it is then loaded for export. Loadings of the grade currently stand at around 30,000 b/d, equivalent to around a single monthly cargo. The grade is currently traded via tender approximately a full month in advance of loading and is not regularly traded on a spot basis.

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