Platts to remove single terminal origin requirement for WTI Midland supplied via STS transfer from larger vessels in Dated Brent from May 1, 2026

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, will remove the single terminal origin requirement for WTI Midland Aframax cargoes supplied via ship-to-ship transfer from larger vessels in its North Sea Market on Close assessment process (MOC) and Dated Brent, from May 1, 2026.

This will apply to trades published in the Platts North Sea MOC from May 1 onwards.

Platts understands that when loading a larger vessel, such as a VLCC, as an alternative to an Aframax, prevailing market practice is to load from multiple terminals in the US Gulf Coast.

In the initial proposal, Platts proposed to expect all parcels on board the vessel to be segregated. Based on market feedback, Platts will require the WTI Midland on board the vessel to be segregated by load terminal and not by individual 700,000-barrel parcels.

Platts will require all the oil on board the larger vessel to:

• Be carried in segregated cargo tanks basis load terminal and have separate Bills of Lading for each load terminal;
• Meet Platts' global WTI Midland specifications;
• Have demonstrably loaded from one, or a combination of, US Gulf Coast Terminals approved by Platts.

SEGREGATION

Platts will require the oil on board the larger vessel to be segregated by terminal of origin and not by individual 700,000-barrel parcels.

In practice, this means that WTI Midland originating from multiple terminals must be segregated basis load terminal irrespective of the volume loaded. For example, 1.2 million barrels from Terminal A must be segregated from any additional barrels from Terminal B.

There should be no oil on board the vessel that does not meet Platts WTI Midland specifications nor be from a non-Platts approved terminal, irrespective of segregation.

For clarity, Platts also expects that any Aframax delivered into Dated Brent should continue to only contain WTI Midland from a single Platts-approved terminal.

QUANTITY

Platts understands there are several methods used to evidence the quantity of cargoes supplied via a ship-to-ship transfer. Platts expects market participants to mutually agree on a method for invoicing quantity that is in line with typical market practice.

All Aframax cargoes supplied via STS transfer must comply with Platts existing volume methodology which states that Platts reflects bids, offers and trades for 700,000-barrel CIF basis Rotterdam BFOETM cargoes with an operational tolerance of 1% in the seller's option, minimum stated volumes of 665,000 with an operational tolerance of 1% in the seller's option as well as fixed-volume cargoes of between 693,000 and 707,000 barrels.

QUALITY

Platts expects the quality of any oil supplied via STS transfer to be congruent with the quality recorded at the time of its original loading on the US Gulf Coast. For the purposes of performance tracking, Platts will view a load port certificate of analysis as evidence of a cargo's quality.

DEVIATION

Platts' existing deviation costs and expectations will remain unchanged. These expectations can be found in the Platts Europe and Africa Crude oil methodology guide.

This follows a proposal published Dec. 2, 2025, which can be found here: https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/pricing-benchmarks/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/120225-platts-proposes-to-remove-single-terminal-origin-requirement-for-wti-midland-cargoes-supplied-via-sts-transfer-from-larger-vessels-in-dated-brent

Please send all feedback, comments, or questions to europe_crude@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com .

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