Malaysia’s Petronas sets Feb MCO OSP premium at $5.40/b to Dated Brent, down from Jan

Singapore — Petronas lowered the February Malaysian Crude Oil official selling price differential by 10 cents/b from January to a premium of $5.40/b to Platts Dated Brent crude assessments, the state-owned company said Wednesday.

This is the first time the company has issued the OSP differential ahead of the pricing month.

A source with knowledge of the matter said that Petronas will “strive to publish [the alpha] before the [pricing] month starts”.

Typically, Petronas issues the MCO OSP differential during the pricing month, and the outright MCO OSP following the conclusion of the pricing month.

In addition, the OSP differential spread between Tapis blend and the basket crude grades is expected to remain steady from last year at $1.40/b for 2019, the source said.

The MCO OSP differential takes into account a number of factors such as the average premium or discount to Platts Dated Brent crude assessments achieved in physical spot sales of Labuan, Miri Light, Kikeh and Kimanis loading in the month.

Petronas also takes into consideration the assessments of those grades during a specific time period by price information providers such as S&P Global Platts, RIM and Argus.

It also considers its buyers’ views on trades and any recommendations they make on the value of the crude grades.

Source: www.spglobal.com