Platts suspends negative Murban Quality Adjustment in Dubai crude benchmark

Effective March 20, 2026, Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, has suspended the negative quality adjustment for Murban crude in its Dubai crude benchmark. This means that Platts will not assess the Murban Quality Adjustment below zero and will not assess Murban below Platts Dubai, until further notice.

The decision has been taken to maximize the amount of deliverable crude in the Dubai benchmark at a time when only Murban and Oman can be declared in the Platts Dubai process due to the severe restrictions on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, as previously announced in a March 2 subscriber note .

The suspension of the negative Murban Quality Adjustment applies to the declaration of Murban upon physical convergence of Dubai and Oman crude partials in the Platts Market on Close assessment process from March 20 onwards.

Platts will continue to publish the Murban Quality Adjustment under the symbol AASVA00 before 11am Singapore time daily, but the Quality Adjustment will not be assessed below zero.

Since the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East, Platts has been engaging widely with industry stakeholders on the disruption to oil flows, recognizing the importance of Platts Dubai as a benchmark for physical crude oil throughout the region. In addition to the March 2 subscriber note announcing the suspension of nominations of crude grades requiring transit through the Strait of Hormuz, Platts more recently published a March 16 consultation seeking immediate feedback on the deliverability of Middle East crude oil and Platts Dubai crude benchmark methodology.

In the extensive feedback gathered, market participants have supported the suspension of the negative Murban Quality Adjustment in order to maximize the amount of deliverable Murban and Oman crude loading outside of the Strait.

Platts will continue to monitor developments in the region closely and is still seeking feedback under the consultation announced March 16 regarding how Dubai methodology could evolve in the event of either an escalation of the conflict and further disruption to operations outside the Strait of Hormuz, or a resumption in vessel traffic through the strait.

Platts continues to monitor performance against trades previously reported in the Platts Market on Close process in line with existing editorial guidelines.

Please send any feedback or questions to asia_crude@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.