據今日油價6月26日報道，全球知名評級機構和阿格斯媒體(Argus Media)推出新的美國原油定價基準，或將取代西德克薩斯中質原油的基準。

實際上，WTI作為一個基準與它運送到俄克拉荷馬州庫欣(Cushing)的石油儲藏中心有關。美國墨西哥灣沿岸的石油運輸僅以德克薩斯州、路易斯安那州和北達科他州生產的原油為基礎，作為對西德克薩斯中質原油的溢價或折扣報價。然而，由于頁巖油的繁榮，這使得美國再次成為原油出口國，而庫欣的重要性有所下降。

Argus Media美洲主管Euan Craik對路透表示："交易員現在可以選擇代表整個墨西哥灣市場的新基準。"

根據這份報告，Argus基準將包括墨西哥灣沿岸七個地點的石油儲量，包括麥哲倫中流合作伙伴(Magellan Midstream Partners)運營的東休斯頓終端、企業產品合作伙伴(Enterprise Products Partners)擁有的三個終端，以及位于休斯頓、西布魯克(Seabrook)和德克薩斯城(Texas City)的三個海上設施。稍后，還有兩個地點將被添加到名單中，包括科珀斯克里斯蒂終端和德克薩斯州的Nederland。

被稱為Platts American Gulf Coast Select，簡稱AGS的基準原油，將以二疊紀盆地生產的輕質低硫原油為基礎，通過管道輸送到墨西哥灣沿岸。多年來，庫欣一直未能在這個市場上代表原油的經濟性。市場參與者呼吁建立一個正確反映墨西哥灣沿岸實體市場核心的基準，而不是內陸金融價值。

新的基準將力求使美國出口石油與布倫特原油處于更平等的地位。目前全球逾50%的石油出口都使用布倫特原油定價。

王佳晶 摘譯自 今日油價

原文如下：

U.S. Gulf Coast Crude Oil Gets Its Own Benchmark

One International Renowned Rating Agency and Argus Media will today launch new benchmarks for pricing U.S. crude oil that is being exported to replace the West Texas Intermediate benchmark.

WTI serves as a basis, but it is, in fact, linked to oil delivered to the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub.

Reuters reports that oil shipments from the U.S. Gulf Coast are only quoted as a premium or discount to West Texas Intermediate, based on crudes produced in Texas, Louisiana, and North Dakota. Yet Cushing has declined in importance thanks to the shale oil boom, which has made the United States an exporter of crude once again.

“Traders will now have the option of a new benchmark that will represent the totality of the Gulf Coast market,” the head of Americas at Argus Media, Euan Craik, told Reuters.

The Argus benchmark, according to the report, will include oil stored at seven locations along the Gulf Coast, including the East Houston terminal operated by Magellan Midstream Partners, three terminals that are property of Enterprise Products Partners, and three offshore facilities in Houston, Seabrook, and Texas City. At a later point, two more locations will be added to the list, including the Corpus Christi terminal and Nederland in Texas.

Platts’ benchmark, dubbed Platts American Gulf Coast Select, or AGS, will be based on light sweet crude produced in the Permian basin and transported by pipeline to the Gulf Coast.

“Cushing has for several years failed to represent the economics of crude oil in this market. Market participants have called for a benchmark that correctly reflects the core of the physical market in the Gulf Coast, rather than a landlocked financial value,” the Americas editorial director of Platts, Richard Swann, told Reuters.

The new benchmarks will seek to put U.S. oil for export on a more equal footing with Brent crude, which is currently used for the pricing of more than 50 percent of the oil exported around the world.