Oil price assessment service Platts said more crudes may be added to its North Sea dated Brent quote as soon as this year or 2013 to prepare for further declines in supplies from the home of the global benchmark. Jorge Montepeque, Platts' global director of market reporting, also told Reuters a changeover in the way it calculates the dated Brent benchmark which took place on January 6 had proceeded smoothly.
Platts and the oil industry have been holding talks about expanding the Brent quote beyond four North Sea crudes. Some analysts questioned Brent's credibility as a benchmark last year as disruptions to North Sea supply boosted global prices. "This discussion to include more grades continues as well as the analysis of escalators. We have not made any decision, but in our discussions with the industry there is a joint sense that more grades will be added," Montepeque said.
Implementation of any changes could be as soon as 2012 or 2013, "if everything has been finalised," he added. Platts, a unit of McGraw-Hill, sets a price for Dated Brent, itself used to price up to 70 percent of the world's oil cargoes and forms part of the underlying market for Brent futures.
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