LONDON, Nov. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Abundant shale natural gas reserves in the United States are expected to keep petrochemical producers in North America well stocked with inexpensive ethane for the next decade, according to the just-launched Platts Petrochemical Analytics: Shale Gas to Polyethylene - Global Outlook to 2023, a new quarterly report which features a 10-year price forecast from Platts' oil and natural gas analytics unit Bentek Energy*.

The 50-page report examines how the U.S. shale natural gas revolution is rapidly changing the global ethane, ethylene, polyethylene and natural gas liquids (NGLs) markets and concludes that ethane will likely be oversupplied in the U.S. through 2018, when prices are expected to climb as new ethane crackers come online and absorb the excess feedstock.

Shale Gas to Polyethylene--Global Outlook to 2023 is the first in a planned series of quarterly reports that will be produced by the Platts Petrochemical Analytics team, newly formed to better serve the needs of corporate executives, strategic planners and analysts in the petrochemical industry.

"We've designed the quarterlies to meet front- and back-office needs and pull together all relevant information in one convenient report," said Jim Foster, senior petrochemical analyst at Platts, a leading global provider of energy, metals and petrochemicals information. "In this particular report, we explain how today's wide cracking margins are incentivizing a rush for new capacity and how this might erode the U.S. feedstock advantage post 2017."

The new quarterly focuses on global and regional polyethylene trade flows, changing market fundamentals, production outlook, global cracker capacity and project updates and includes the following among other features:

    --  U.S. NGL - petrochemical demand forecast
    --  Asia & Middle East ethylene outlook
    --  Asia & Middle East polyethylene outlook
    --  U.S. polyethylene outlook
    --  Latin America polyethylene outlook
    --  Europe, Africa & Oceania polyethylene outlook
    --  Ethylene derivatives: vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) - ethylene oxide
        outlook
    --  U.S. steam cracker co-products outlook

"In addition to unveiling the first in a report series, we're pleased to formally announce the formation of Platts Petrochemical Analytics, a service-driven initiative to cut down on work load for our customers and provide them with an interactive one-stop information and analysis solution," said Leon Yeo, Platts vice president of petrochemicals. "The next quarterly report series under the Platts Petrochemical Analytics umbrella will be shale to polypropylene and we're in dialogue with the industry about coverage for additional petrochemicals."

Platts Petrochemical Analytics is a specialized team approach to collecting relevant data, analysing it and packaging it in a convenient and holistic way which combines upstream and downstream information -from wellhead, to refining, to finished product. Not only does it marry Platts' editorial expertise with the well-established data modelling of Bentek, it allows the user direct access to Platts' global team of analysts and allows for customizable data sets and models and the input of third-party data.

Platts Petrochemical Analytics: Shale Gas to Polyethylene - Global Outlook to 2023 is available as a PDF, with modelled data sets downloadable to Excel. For more information, visit http://www.platts.com/products/petchem-analytics-shale-to-polyethylene/petrochemicals/allwww.platts.com/PPA.

Today's announcement follows other enhancements to Platts' petrochemicals offering announced earlier this year, including the migration of two of Platts' newswires, Olefinscan and Polymerscan, dedicated to the supply, demand and price fundamentals of olefins and polymers used in the manufacturing of plastics, synthetics and resins, to Platts Market Center, which provides customizable tools that allow users to better access and analyse price trends. Platts has also introduced mobile apps for key petrochemical products.

For additional information on petrochemicals, visit www.platts.com.

* Platts acquired Bentek Energy in 2011.

About Platts:
Founded in 1909, Platts is a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals, metals and agriculture information and a premier source of benchmark prices for the physical and futures markets. Platts' news, pricing, analytics, commentary and conferences help customers make better-informed trading and business decisions and help the markets operate with greater transparency and efficiency. Customers in more than 150 countries benefit from Platts' coverage of the biofuels, carbon emissions, coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, metals, nuclear power, petrochemical, shipping and sugar markets. A division of McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI), Platts is headquartered in New York with approximately 900 employees in more than 15 offices worldwide. Additional information is available at http://www.platts.com.

About McGraw Hill Financial: McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI), a financial intelligence company, is a leader in credit ratings, benchmarks and analytics for the global capital and commodity markets. Iconic brands include: Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Platts, CRISIL, J.D. Power & Associates, McGraw Hill Construction and Aviation Week. The Company has approximately 17,000 employees in 27 countries. Additional information is available at www.mhfi.com.

SOURCE Platts

SOURCE: Platts