Platts Addition of Midland to Brent a Success: LEF

The addition of WTI Midland crude into the Brent benchmark has gone well, according to comments from Platts at the London Energy Forum, cited by Reuters.

• Vera Blei, head of established benchmarks at Platts said it won’t be necessary to add any further crudes for the time being,
• The addition of Midland has helped bring new counterparties into North Sea benchmark trading, such as Occidental and Saudi Aramco, Blei said.
• Midland was added to the Brent basked in May 2023, boosting volumes underpinning the benchmark. The rational for Midland’s addition was diminishing output from the five North Sea grades: Brent, Forties, Oseberg, Ekofisk and Troll.