Platts to overhaul Oman crude pricing

Singapore: Platts is looking to revamp its pricing methodology for Oman crude after the Middle Eastern oil benchmark surged above global markers Brent and Nymex, company officials said yesterday.

The Energy pricing agency is considering authorising deliveries of alternative Middle East crude - likely Abu Dhabi or Qatari, the only other Gulf grades that can be traded freely on the spot market - into Oman contracts to help cap its price.

Platts, a unit of the McGraw-Hill Cos would allow the alternatives to be delivered in lieu of Oman in trades conducted during the 0800-0830 GMT Platts trading window, which provides the basis for crude assessments. It is also weighing the creation of the so-called "synthetic Oman", which would combine two Middle Eastern grades to produce a quality close to Oman.

"Oman in our mind ceased to work as a benchmark last month," Jorge Montepeque, Platts' global director of market reporting, told a pricing forum.