IPE Launches New Crude Price Indicator

From 16 November the IPE will publish trade-weighted average prices for each Brent Crude futures contract month. The initiative follows requests from a number of market participants who see the new price indicator as a potential new benchmark for the oil industry. Attention is likely to focus on the trade weighted averages for the prompt months, which typically account for the bulk of volume transacted on the IPE. The underlying value of the transactions carried out in the first two futures months is currently around $1.5 billion each day, representing a physical volume of approximately 60 million barrels of oil, or more than two thirds of total world oil consumption. The trade-weighted average is calculated by dividing the value of business transacted for each contract month by the volume of trade at the end of each day. It will be published on the IPE website (www.ipe.uk.com) in the prices section (www.ipe.uk.com/prices.html ). The trade weighted average for the first two months will also be available in the Crude Oil Marketwire and Global Alert products published by Platts.