Murban Crude Oil Price

What Murban crude is

Murban comes from onshore fields in Abu Dhabi. ADNOC lists its quality as 40° API with 0.778% sulfur, and other published assays show about 40.5° API and 0.74% sulfur. That makes it light, and at about 0.7–0.8% sulfur it sits just above the usual 0.5% threshold for sweet crude. Traders often describe it as "light sour" for that reason, although it is much lower in sulfur than Dubai or Oman. See sweet vs sour crude and API gravity.

According to the IEA, Murban predominantly loads at Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman, which it reaches by pipeline from Abu Dhabi's onshore fields. It can therefore be exported without passing through the Strait of Hormuz. ADNOC also uses Murban to price its other export grades and states production capacity of 4.85 million barrels per day across its crudes.

How Murban's price is set

Before 2021, ADNOC set Murban's official selling price (OSP) itself each month and restricted where buyers could resell cargoes. The IFAD launch changed both. ADNOC now sets its monthly Murban OSP from the futures contract, and the underlying physical market is for Murban without the old resale restriction. At launch ADNOC also priced its other grades (Das, Umm Lulu and Upper Zakum) as differentials to the Murban contract.

Murban also feeds into the main Middle East benchmark. Since January 2016 Platts has accepted Murban for delivery against Dubai and Oman partials, with a quality premium because it is lighter than the other grades. That link let Murban's strength spill into Dubai during the 2026 crisis.

Murban in the 2026 Hormuz crisis

When tanker traffic through Hormuz almost stopped after 28 February 2026, Murban became one of the few large Gulf streams that could still reach buyers. Its value rose sharply:

The pattern shows a basic rule of oil pricing: location can matter more than quality. Grades stuck inside the Gulf, such as Basrah Medium or Upper Zakum, lost buyers. Murban, which could be loaded and shipped, gained a large premium over both Dubai and Brent. Drone attacks also disrupted bunkering at Fujairah in early March 2026, the IEA reported, a reminder that bypass routes carry risks of their own.

Murban's role in pricing oil for Asia

ADNOC built IFAD to create a transparent, exchange-traded Middle East marker, the Gulf's answer to Brent and WTI. Most Murban goes to Asian refiners. Supporters see three advantages over Dubai:

• It is a futures price, set on an exchange with open interest and a public settlement, rather than a PRA assessment.
• It is physically delivered, so the futures price converges with a real cargo at Fujairah.
• It loads outside Hormuz, which 2026 showed to be a decisive advantage in a crisis.

The UAE's exit from OPEC lets ADNOC raise output without quota limits once export routes allow, which could deepen Murban liquidity. Dubai/Oman still prices far more crude, because Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait continue to use it for Asian sales. For the UAE's production and capacity, see UAE oil production, and for all markers compared, the crude oil benchmarks guide.