Page 6 - AsianOil Week 45

AsianOil ASIA-PACIFIC AsianOil

ICE may use Murban futures for

US crude sales to Asia

PROJECTS & THE Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) said it range of cash settled derivatives”, the ICE said.
COMPANIES had signed a memorandum of understanding These include outright, differential and crack
(MoU) with US producers Chevron and Occi- differentials against Brent, WTI, gasoil and
dental Petroleum, as well as commodity trader naphtha among others, as well as inter-com-
Trafigura, on using the upcoming Murban modity spreads, which will launch alongside
futures contract to price US crude oil being sent Murban futures, according to the statement.
to Asia. “The Murban Futures Contract is a positive
ICE Futures Europe’s president, Stuart Wil- development in enhancing transparency for oil
liams, told the ADIPEC virtual forum this week markets and very relevant to us as an active par-
that the companies were exploring the use of the ticipant in crude oil trading in the Arabian Gulf
UAE-based Murban benchmark as the ICE pre- and as the largest exporter of US crude,” Trafig-
pares to launch the futures contract in March. ura’s head of crude for Asia, Daniel Yuen, said in
It is thought that using the new contract could give the statement.
Asian buyers an easier way to hedge against physical Meanwhile, Oxy Energy Services’ president,
purchases of US crude oil, also allowing them to avoid Fred Forthuber, welcomed the upcoming launch
using the Brent benchmark for hedging. of the Murban futures contract as a “great step in
“We’re starting to see interest from not just the evolution of the oil market”. Noting that his
Middle East crude exporters to Asia but we’re company was one of the largest exporters of US
seeing other firms, particularly those exporting crude to Asia, he said it looked forward to explor-
light sweet crude, pay attention,” Williams said. ing opportunities to use the new benchmark.
According to a November 10 ICE statement, The US ships more than 3mn barrels per
ICE Murban Crude Oil Futures will be a physi- day (bpd) of crude globally, including to major
cally delivered contract with delivery at Fujairah Asian buyers China, South Korea and Taiwan,
in the UAE on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. ICE having only begun unrestricted crude exports
Murban Futures will be “complemented with a in late 2015.™

SOUTH ASIA

India invites IOCs to invest in SPR

POLICY THE Indian government is looking to attract to 2.49mn tonnes (608,000 barrels per day).
investment from international oil companies While imports also contracted in September,
(IOCs) in its next wave of strategic petroleum down 9.8% on the year to 15.18mn tonnes
reserve (SPR) development. (3.71mn bpd), this was driven by a fall in eco-
New Delhi was looking for “global” inves- nomic activity on the back of government lock-
tors to help fund the addition of 6.5mn tonnes down measures.
(47.65mn barrels) of SPR capacity over two Indeed, the country is beginning to show
facilities in Chandikol and Padur, Indian Minis- renewed appetite for energy, with Pradhan not-
ter for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra ing that domestic gasoline, diesel and liquid
Pradhan told an industry event on November 9. petroleum gas (LPG) sales rose last year.
He said: “I invite global energy players to come “We anticipate that this recovery path in
and invest in this project.” energy demand growth in India will sustain in
The country already has three under- the coming months,” Pradhan said. He added
ground facilities in Padur, Mangalore that the country’s share of global energy con-
and Visakhapatnam, with 2.5mn tonnes sumption was projected to rise from 7% to 12%
(18.33mn barrels), 1.5mn tonnes (11mn by 2050.
barrels) and 1.33mn tonnes (9.75mn bar- Part of the government’s strategy to raise
rels) of capacity respectively. investor interest in its SPR programme has been
However, declining domestic production to allow Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC)
and a historic upwards trend in oil imports has to re-export some of the oil it stored in the Man-
impressed on the government the need for emer- galore SPR.
gency stockpiles to mitigate oil market shocks. Pradhan said in September that the country
The country’s production of crude and con- was considering also strategic storage in the US
densate shrank 6.05% year on year in September and other “commercially viable locations”.™

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 45 12•November•2020