ESPO crude could become Asia benchmark

摘要

Tokyo-Spot ESPO crude supply could create a regional benchmark in Asia by 2014 when the new Russian crude export volume is expected to reach 1 million b/d, but the key is to have more than 300,000 b/d of the spot supply, a senior Nippon Oil official told Platts March 12.Speaking to Platts on the sidelines of a press briefing in Tokyo, Kazuyoshi Takayama, general manager of the company's petroleum trading and shipping department, said the significance of crude supplies from Russia's Far East would be greater in North Asia by then amid shrinking domestic oil demand in Japan and South Korea.