By Shu Zhang
SINGAPORE, Sept 9 (Reuters) - S&P Global Plattssaid on Monday it will launch new price assessments for U.S.crude for Asian buyers from Oct. 1, as the United States exportsmore oil to the East.
Asian refiners are increasingly turning to sweet, orlow-sulphur, light U.S. crude, amid falling production in Asiaand as U.S. sanctions curb oil supply from Iran and Venezuela.
The two price quotes are for West Texas Intermediate (WTI)Midland for U.S. crude sold to Singapore and South Korea's Yeosuon a delivered-ex-shipment basis, Platts said in a statement.
At both locations, Platts will assess cargoes for deliverythree months from the date of publication, it said.
The move follows the first-ever offer of a WTI Midland crudecargo by oil major Royal Dutch Shell for delivery inOctober on Platts' widely used trading platform for Asian buyersin late August.
"The market has already shown appetite to demonstrate thevalue of WTI though the recent publication of the first firm andtransparent offer in the Platts Asia Market On Close priceassessment process, priced at a premium to Platts Dubai," saidVera Blei, head of oil market pricing at S&P Global Platts.
Asia already accounted for 45% of total U.S. crude exportsat 2.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first five months of2019, she added.
South Korea, which previously tended to import condensate,or an ultra-light form of crude oil, from Iran, halted importingIranian crude from May and saw imports from the United Statesalmost triple in July from the year before.
In July, the United States was South Korea's second-biggestcrude oil supplier, overtaking Kuwait.
U.S. crude delivered to Singapore in the first eight monthsthis year totalled 73,300 bpd, up from 70,620 bpd during thecorresponding period a year before, Refinitiv shipping datashowed.
Separately, Platts is also launching daily assessments ofBrazilian Lula crude oil delivered to the eastern Chinese portof Qingdao on a delivered-ex-ship (DES) basis from Oct. 1, itsaid in a separate statement.
The move follows strong demand for Brazilian crude in Asia,especially China where independent refineries, or so-called"teapot" refineries, have emerged as major buyers of the medium,sweet crude grade.
About 62% Of Brazil's total crude exports of 1.15 millionbarrels per day (bpd) flowed to Asia in 2018, according toPlatts.(Reporting by Shu ZhangEditing by Florence Tan and Simon Cameron-Moore)
