US crude grade WTI joined North Sea Dated for the first time today and moved the benchmark price lower.
WTI on a delivered-Europe basis was included in Dated alongside North Sea grades Brent, Forties, Oseberg, Ekofisk and Troll, as Dated's assessment period captured the first days of June. WTI's relatively low price meant that the entire benchmark moved lower.
Dated — the Argus version of Dated Brent — was $77.10/bl. This was 10¢/bl lower than the 'old' Dated based on the five local grades, Argus data show. Argus will continue to publish a Dated illustration called Dated BFOET — which excludes WTI — alongside its main Dated price, which now includes WTI.
WTI so far only affects two days of the 10-day to month-ahead assessment window. But on both of those days it is the lowest priced grade by more than $1/bl, once freight adjustments are made.
Weaker quality premiums for Oseberg, Ekofisk and Troll in June increase the chances of WTI setting Dated in the coming sessions, as the curve moves forward. The QPs for the three grades will decline by 19-54¢/bl for June as their premiums to Brent or Forties narrowed last month with weaker demand for sweet grades in Europe.
Four cargoes of WTI for delivery on various dates between 1-5 June were put into North Sea forward chains by trading firm Trafigura. Two were kept by Vitol, and one each by Glencore and Shell, traders said. This suggests that WTI will have a big effect on Dated. Loading programmes show only three cargoes of the five local benchmark grades scheduled in the 1-5 June period.
Although there are no loading programmes for WTI, tracking data suggest flows to Europe will remain high in the coming weeks. Nearly 1.34mn b/d departed for Europe in April, lower than the record of 1.65mn b/d in March but well above the near 1.2mn b/d in 2022.
WTI was added to the Dated basket to enhance liquidity, with combined loadings of the five local grades scheduled to fall to an average of 677,000 b/d in the first half of this year, or slightly below one Aframax cargo per day. Exports of the five crudes are set to hit a one-year low of 607,000 b/d in June.
