Royal Dutch Shell
on Wednesday urged oil pricing agency S&P Global Platts to protect
the dated Brent crude benchmark from declining North Sea supply by
including other grades, such as Russian Urals, in its price-setting
process.
The
benchmark, based on light North Sea crude grades, is used to price
about two-thirds of the world's oil but a decline in North Sea output
has led to concerns that physical volumes could become too thin and
prone to large price swings.
Platts announced it would add a fifth grade, Troll, to the benchmark slate from January 2018 but Shell says more must be added in the next two to three years and considers Russian medium sour Urals as a top candidate.
"A good benchmark need not only be representative of what the region produces ... If you had to pick one grade of crude, Urals is the one which northwest European refineries should be designed to run optimally," Mike Muller, vice president of crude trading and supply at Shell, told the Platts Crude Summit in London.
Muller also suggested the price of dated Brent be derived from the average price of a basket of crudes, rather than by using the lowest priced of the four BFOE crudes on any given day. This would simplify the price-setting process, he said.
Two years ago, Muller said European refineries were already free to buy Urals - a crude stream that dwarfs North Sea streams in volume - as a substitute to the North Sea Forties grades as they are similar in quality.
Shell’s North Sea production is set to drop by more than half to about 110,000 barrels per day after the sale of a large package of North Sea assets to private equity-backed Chrysaor last year. But Shell will market Chrysaor’s volumes for several more years.
Platts announced it would add a fifth grade, Troll, to the benchmark slate from January 2018 but Shell says more must be added in the next two to three years and considers Russian medium sour Urals as a top candidate.
"A good benchmark need not only be representative of what the region produces ... If you had to pick one grade of crude, Urals is the one which northwest European refineries should be designed to run optimally," Mike Muller, vice president of crude trading and supply at Shell, told the Platts Crude Summit in London.
Muller also suggested the price of dated Brent be derived from the average price of a basket of crudes, rather than by using the lowest priced of the four BFOE crudes on any given day. This would simplify the price-setting process, he said.
Two years ago, Muller said European refineries were already free to buy Urals - a crude stream that dwarfs North Sea streams in volume - as a substitute to the North Sea Forties grades as they are similar in quality.
Shell’s North Sea production is set to drop by more than half to about 110,000 barrels per day after the sale of a large package of North Sea assets to private equity-backed Chrysaor last year. But Shell will market Chrysaor’s volumes for several more years.
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