Platts suspends bids and offers for Persian Gulf ports within Strait of Hormuz in Middle East refined products MOC assessment process

Effective immediately, March 2, 2026, Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, has suspended publishing bids and offers in the Middle East refined products Market on Close assessment process where they reflect loading at ports within the Persian Gulf that require transit through the Strait of Hormuz until further notice.

Market participants have notified Platts that many major shipping companies have halted transit through the Strait of Hormuz amid heightened safety concerns after Israel and the US launched air strikes on Iran on February 28, 2026.

FOB Arab Gulf differentials/FOB Fujairah assessments:

Effective immediately, Platts will not publish any bids or offers for refined products on an FOB Arab Gulf or FOB Fujairah basis for naphtha, gasoline, gasoil, jet fuel or fuel oil that specify, as a condition of the bid or offer, loadings from any ports within the Persian Gulf that require transit through the Strait of Hormuz. Platts has, at the same time, suspended the requirement that bids must specify a minimum of three load points. Buyers should specify at least one load point, and sellers should continue to specify at least one and no more than three representative load points when offering in the MOC. Under this change, cargoes loading from any safe port outside the Persian Gulf would be considered for inclusion in the assessments, and normalized for loading on a FOB Fujairah basis.

Arab Gulf netback assessments (MOPAG):

Platts will continue to publish values for Arab Gulf netback assessments for naphtha, gasoline, gasoil, jet fuel and high sulfur fuel oil.

As per established methodology, Platts will only publish a zero or negative value for these netbacks if prevailing market information demonstrates such values. This will mean that if a freight netback calculation would produce a value at or below zero, then Platts would consider relevant spot market information instead and use this in its assessment of FOB Arab Gulf values.

FOB Arab Gulf LPG:

In the Middle East spot LPG market, Platts assesses the outright value of spot cargoes for loading on a FOB basis across the region, including Yanbu on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast. Platts continues to reflect LPG cargoes loading on a FOB basis in the broader Middle East region outside the Persian Gulf.

FOB Bahrain Bitumen:

The above restrictions do not apply to FOB Bahrain Bitumen assessments, which continue to reflect product loading from Sitra in Bahrain.

UAE Base Oils:

Platts will continue to assess base oils loading ex-tank and delivered CFR basis Sharjah, UAE, but may also consider information for other locations across the Middle East for inclusion in the assessment.

More information on Platts Middle East refined products methodology can be found here: asia-refined-oil-products-methodology.pdf.

Platts will continue to monitor performance against trades previously reported in the Platts MOC process in line with existing editorial guidelines. Buyers and sellers may mutually agree on alternate loadings of these cargoes, but sellers should not impose this.

Platts invites comments regarding the extent and likely duration of these shipping restrictions, as well as their impact on the deliverability of refined products loading from within the Strait of Hormuz in the Platts assessment process.

Please send any feedback or questions to asia_products@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com. For written comments, please provide a clear indication if comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing. Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.