Saint-Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX) with the assistance of Transneft is going to launch Urals crude as Russian oil benchmark, IAA PortNews correspondent cites Mikhail Temnichenko, First Vice President of SPIMEX, as saying at the 10th International Congress ‘Oil Terminal 2015’ in Saint-Petersburg.
According to him, Russian oil benchmark is to be created on the basis of crude supplies via the ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga under futures contracts. The prices will be set in dollars per barrel according to worldwide practice. One contract volume is to be set at 1,000 barrels, one batch – 100,000 t.
As of today, Urals price depends on Brent pricing, being traded at a premium or a discount to Brent. Independent benchmark is supposed to let Russian oil companies directly influence the market and form the market of Urals based financial instruments.