Saudi Aramco rebalances its Asia crude oil benchmark

Saudi Aramco announced that it is adjusting its Asia crude oil pricing marker in an effort to increase the overall reliability of its crude oil pricing.

Saudi Aramco’s long-standing price marker was the average of Platts Dubai and Platts Oman assessments. The company’s new Asia marker will replace Platts Oman with Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) Oman effective October 1, 2018, creating a hybrid between two major Asia benchmarks.

Ahmed Subaey, Saudi Aramco’s vice president of Marketing, Sales and Supply Planning said, “We’re rebalancing our Asia marker to ensure that it is underpinned by a broad and vibrant marketplace. The inclusion of the DME Oman price complements the existing Platts Dubai price to provide our customers with better visibility into price dynamics. Our main objective is to ensure that our marker is market-reflective, well-regulated, and predictable, and we are confident that the DME Oman price, combined with the Platts Dubai price will serve that purpose.”