Global oil pricing agency Platts may soon implement a quality premium for Murban crude deliveries during its daily assessment process of the Dubai and Oman benchmarks for Middle East oil.

The move could lead to the first deliveries of the Abu Dhabi flagship crude during the Platts Market on Close (MoC) process.

Platts added Murban, along with Qatar’s Al Shaheen grade, in January to the basket of crudes used to assess Dubai and Oman, just months after MoC liquidity was tested by high trade volumes between two Chinese state traders.

While six Al Shaheen cargoes were delivered during January trades, however, the lack of a premium for Murban to make up for its higher quality compared with the other deliverable grades in the basket have deterred sellers from nominating the crude.

In a proposal, Platts said it is seeking feedback from the market on the implementation of a quality premium for Murban that buyers would pay to sellers if a cargo of the Abu Dhabi crude was sold during the MoC process.

"We have seen support for the (quality premium) concept grow and have continued to consult with the market on the right calculation methodology," Platts said in an e-mail.