en.Wedoany.com Reported - Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced on Friday that it will abandon, effective November 1, its pricing methodology based on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD)—which relied on the Murban futures contract two months prior to loading—and instead adopt a spot monthly pricing system centered on the Platts Dubai benchmark, applicable to all four of its Abu Dhabi crude grades: Murban, Das, Umm Lulu, and Upper Zakum.
Under the new formula, ADNOC will set official selling prices based on the Platts Dubai assessment plus a company-published premium or discount, with the differential disclosed one month prior to the target delivery month. ADNOC stated that this change aligns pricing more closely with the actual month of crude loading, replacing the old system that had used the Murban futures contract two months before loading as the pricing basis since the launch of the IFAD Murban contract in 2021.
The introduction of the IFAD contract made Murban the first Middle Eastern crude grade with its own tradable futures contract. ADNOC spent years building it into a regional alternative to Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI); five years later, the company uses this contract to set its own official prices, while the futures contract itself remains traded.
Middle East Economic Digest (MEES) disclosed earlier this month a narrower proposal to shift ADNOC's offshore grades to the Dubai benchmark while keeping Murban on futures pricing. ADNOC's Friday announcement goes further, also incorporating Murban—which accounts for about two-thirds of its production—into the Dubai-linked system.
The announcement comes three months after the UAE exited the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and OPEC+. The exit took effect on May 1, freeing ADNOC from production quota constraints and giving it greater latitude in setting its own commercial terms.
Platts had previously adjusted Murban's weight in the Dubai crude basket. The price agency in January removed the floor linking Murban's value to Dubai, after years of rising Murban supply and declining medium sour crude gave this grade a greater role in setting the benchmark. ADNOC's move formally confirms this shift from the seller's side.
ADNOC stated that the change will not have a material impact on any of its listed instruments, including bonds issued under the ADNOC Murban Global Medium-Term Notes (GMTN) and Sukuk programs, and that it will continue to fulfill its delivery obligations for its onshore and offshore grades.
