Murban crude has evolved into a major global benchmark’ according to Oilprice.com, (descriptor of the site). Its pricing relationship with West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil (WTI) is narrowing, as Murban demand increases amid Middle Eastern supply shifts.

Murban comes from Abu Dhabi -and is produced by ADNOC. It’s a light sweet crude with a sulphur content of 0.78 percent and an American Petroleum Institute gravity (API) of 39.9 degrees.

Murban crude has taken on a life of its own, becoming one of the most prominent and frequently delivered grades in the Platts Dubai crude oil benchmark basket.

In 2021, Abu Dhabi launched IFAD (ICE Futures Abu Dhabi) futures, its flagship contract for the physically delivered Murban crude oil. Trading in Murban futures really took off in 2024, smashing records quarter after quarter. In the second quarter alone, volumes hit 1.5 billion barrels, more than double the pace seen at the start of the year. June set fresh highs across the board, with an average of 31 million barrels changing hands daily and a single-day peak of 57,300 contracts, or 57.3 million barrels. The surge proved that Murban is no longer a niche Gulf crude - it’s becoming a go-to benchmark with real global traction.

As Abu Dhabi increases Murban availability and IFAD trading volumes build depth, the grade is no longer confined to a regional role. Its pricing relationship with WTI has begun to narrow, pushing the two into more direct competition in Asian refining centers that once defaulted to US barrels when economics allowed.

The result is a subtle but consequential shift: Murban is gaining the liquidity and transparency that make a benchmark useful, just as WTI’s reach into Asia is shaped by freight, arbitrage cycles, and Gulf Coast supply patterns.

The Murban and WTI pricing relationship has been narrowing, thanks to rising demand for Middle Eastern crudes, specifically Murban, alongside factors like ADNOC diverting the grade to its domestic refinery which encourages Asian buyers to seek alternatives.