Platts changes how it assesses oil product values in Asia trade

Singapore

OIL pricing agency Platts is changing how it assesses oil product values in Asian trade from July 1 in a move that traders expect to boost volumes and encourage the use of regional oil storage facilities built at a cost of billions of dollars.

The change in how fuel oil, diesel, jet fuel and petrol are assessed for loadings out of Singapore and Malaysia takes a borderless approach similar to that in the world's largest oil storage hub Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA).

The main change is that from July in Platts' free-on-board (FOB) Singapore price assessments - the basis for most contract and spot deals done in Asia - traders at the time of making a bid or offer for a cargo will no longer specify a loading point in Singapore or…