ADNOC Abandons Murban-Linked Pricing for Three Offshore Grades, Switches to Dubai Formula
The shift reprices Upper Zakum, Das and Umm Lulu against the Dubai prompt marker, changing the basis for Asian buyers of Abu Dhabi crude.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said on Friday (2026-07-31) it will abandon the ICE Futures Abu Dhabi pricing methodology for several key crude grades, dropping the Murban futures link in favour of a Dubai-based formula.6
Upper Zakum, Das and Umm Lulu are the grades affected, and together they move significant volumes into Japan, South Korea and China. Repricing them against Dubai alters the official selling price calculation for buyers who have structured crude procurement and margin models around a Murban-linked benchmark.4
The technical rationale is one of tenor mismatch. Murban futures trade further forward along the curve, creating pricing friction for offshore grades sold into a prompt physical market where cargo values track near-term demand. Dubai, as a prompt-market indicator, sits closer to the conditions under which these cargoes actually load and trade. For buyers managing physical cargoes on short lead times, that alignment with the prompt market matters more than the forward price discovery that Murban offers.4
For Asian refiners, the practical effect depends on how Dubai and Murban settle relative to each other when official selling prices are set. Dubai crude stood at $76.65 per barrel at Friday's (2026-07-31) settlement. ICE Brent front-month, a broader market reference, settled at $91.04 per barrel. The spread between those two marks matters for refiners running margin calculations on specific crude slates, since a Dubai-linked formula will produce different official selling prices than a Murban-linked one when the benchmarks diverge significantly.6,4
The announcement comes as ADNOC is pushing more barrels into the market. The UAE boosted crude oil and condensate exports to a record high in June, according to preliminary Kpler and Vortexa ship-tracking data, shortly after the country's exit from OPEC following nearly 60 years of membership. Freed from quota constraints, Abu Dhabi has been maximising production and export throughput.5
Record volumes and a new pricing formula together represent a significant commercial shift. More supply priced off a different benchmark means buyers need to revisit basis trades and hedging strategies. Term buyers with existing supply agreements may face renegotiations as pricing mechanisms written around Murban no longer apply. But whether Dubai carries enough liquidity at the prompt dates that matter is something traders will be testing closely through the second half of 2026.5,4
The pricing change also sits within a longer push to strengthen the physical infrastructure behind UAE crude exports. ADNOC's West-East pipeline, designed to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, was nearly 50% complete as of May 21, 2026, according to ADNOC CEO Sultan Al Jaber. The project targets a 2027 completion date and would roughly double non-Hormuz export capacity through Fujairah, supplementing the existing Habshan-Fujairah pipeline that carries up to 1.8 million barrels per day.1,2
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed directed ADNOC to accelerate the project, underscoring that the infrastructure push carries political backing at the highest level. Secure, diversified export routes reduce the Hormuz risk discount that Asian buyers have historically embedded in Abu Dhabi crude. If the pipeline delivers on schedule, ADNOC will have overhauled both its pricing formula and its export infrastructure for its most important markets by 2027.3,1
The first real test of the new methodology comes when Upper Zakum, Das and Umm Lulu official selling prices are set under the Dubai formula. How closely those prices track physical cargo differentials will show whether the benchmark shift achieves what ADNOC intends, or opens new gaps for buyers to arbitrage.4,6