Abu Dhabi National Oil Company plans to change the pricing mechanism for three of its crude grades sold in long-term contracts to the Dubai benchmark from the Murban futures contract, three sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The grades are the offshore Upper Zakum, Das and Umm Lulu crudes, the sources said. Under the change, the grades would be priced at differentials to Dubai quotes, the sources said. One of them said the change would be for prompt loading cargoes.
ADNOC has already been selling cargoes of the three grades loading inside the Persian Gulf via tenders this month at differentials to Dubai quotes.
Its flagship Murban crude will continue to be priced using the monthly average of the Murban futures contract traded on the ICE Futures Abu Dhabi platform, the sources said.
ADNOC declined to comment.
(Reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore and Yousef Saba in Dubai. Editing by Mark Potter)
