Platts Launches New Americas Crude Marker to Capture U.S. Gulf Coast Values
HOUSTON, Mar. 16 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --
Platts, a leading global energy information provider, today confirmed it
will launch a major new crude oil price assessment to capture the
representative value of crude oil in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the main hub for
refining, production, importing and handling of crude oil in the United States.
Platts' decision to begin publishing the new price assessment follows a period of
extensive consultation with oil market participants.
Platts' new assessment, the Americas Crude Marker (ACM), will be published
on a daily basis and joins the company's existing slate of U.S. sweet and sour
crude oil assessments. The ACM assessment each day will reflect the most
competitively priced crude oil among four U.S. Gulf Coast pipeline sour crudes:
Mars, Poseidon, Southern Green Canyon, and Thunder Horse. The combined
production of these crudes exceeds 800,000 barrels a day.
"Market participants have long expressed the need for a benchmark that
reflects broad crude oil economics in the U.S. Gulf Coast," said Jorge
Montepeque, global director of market reporting for Platts. "In this location,
there is a strong confluence of buyers, sellers and refiners of crude oil, the
necessary ingredients for reliable price formation."
The name for Americas Crude Marker was originally proposed as Americas Sour
Marker. However, based on market feedback and consultation, it was determined
that the name Americas Crude Marker would better reflect the refining economics,
import flows and production in the United States.
"The initial response by industry to the ACM has been very favorable," said
Dan Tanz, vice president editorial, Platts. "Producers and consumers have been
seeking better indicators of crude oil value in the Americas. We are pleased to
offer the market what we believe will be a valuable new reference price that
captures the breadth of activity in the Americas' crude oil trading center."
Platts will publish ACM assessments for the first three months of trade.
On March 16, ACM assessments will reflect crudes traded for April, May and June.
The trading month rollover for ACM will take place on the first business
day after the 25th of each calendar month, in line with the trading month
rollover for the existing sour crude pipeline assessments. On March 26, ACM
assessments will reflect trading for May, June and July.
More information is available on ACM, including a background discussion paper
and a Question & Answer document
S=n). For more detailed information on Platts' global crude oil price
assessment methodology
%20Specifications/crudeoilspecs.pdf?S=n,)
About Platts: Platts, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP),
is a leading global provider of energy and commodities information. With a
century of business experience, Platts serves customers across more than 150
countries. An independent provider, Platts serves the oil, natural gas,
electricity, emissions, nuclear power, coal, petrochemical, shipping, and metals
markets from 17 offices worldwide. Platts' real-time news, pricing, analytical
services and conferences help markets operate with transparency and
efficiency. Traders, risk managers, analysts, and industry leaders depend upon
Platts to help them make better trading and investment decisions. Additional
SOURCE: Platts
CONTACT: Kathleen Tanzy of Platts
+1-212-904-2860
Kathleen_tanzy@platts.com; or
Non-Americas Media Contacts:
Asia,
Casey Yew
+65-653-06552, or
Europe,
Shiona Ramage
+44207-1766153
(MHP)
Translations:
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