Dated Brent

Dated Brent is a daily price assessment for physical North Sea crude oil cargoes loading in the near term, used as a reference for pricing traded crude.

Dated Brent prices actual cargoes of North Sea crude oil loading within a set window, rather than a futures contract for a distant month, which is what makes it a workable benchmark for pricing physical trade as it happens. A price reporting agency assesses it daily from actual deals, bids, and offers reported by market participants trading real cargoes.

Because North Sea output has declined over the decades, the physical grades that can be delivered against Dated Brent have been widened several times to keep enough supply available to keep the assessment credible. Most of the world’s traded crude oil, including grades that never touch the North Sea, is priced as a differential to Dated Brent rather than through its own dedicated benchmark. See benchmarks explained.