Dubai and Oman Crude

The medium sour benchmarks that price most Middle East crude sold into Asia.

Overview

Dubai crude, assessed by price reporting agencies, and Oman crude, traded as a futures contract on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, anchor the pricing of Gulf barrels heading east. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and other producers set monthly official selling prices for Asian buyers as differentials to the Dubai and Oman average. Because output of the physical Dubai grade has long been in decline, the assessment basket was widened to deliver other Gulf grades such as Oman, Upper Zakum and Murban. The spread between Brent and Dubai signals the relative value of light sweet against medium sour crude, which shapes refinery runs and arbitrage flows between the Atlantic Basin and Asia.