LONDON, Aug. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Platts, a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals and commodities information and a top publisher of benchmark price references, today launched two daily price assessments aimed at bringing greater clarity to the fuel oil barge and bunker markets. The new assessments reflect values in Rotterdam, Netherlands, one of the world's largest oil, petrochemicals and biofuels centers.

"The market is evolving, with newer, younger ships increasingly capable of burning lower-costing, more viscous and denser fuels," said Benno Spencer, Platts senior managing editor of Europe and Africa oil. "As a result, the market for such fuels is expanding and with it the need for greater price transparency, which we can provide as independent source of price discovery."

Named for their port location, delivery basis and viscosity levels, as measured by kinematic viscosity in centistokes (CST), the new assessments are:

    --  Platts 500 CST FOB Rotterdam barge, which reflects 3.5% sulfur fuel oil
        on a free-on-board (FOB) barge basis Rotterdam, barge size 2,000 metric
        tons
    --  Platts 500 CST delivered Rotterdam bunker, which reflects 3.5% sulfur
        bunker fuel on a delivered basis to a ship in Rotterdam, barge size 300
        to 1,000 metric tons

The Rotterdam high-sulfur fuel oil bunker market sees more than one million metric tons delivered on-board ships per month, with about 50% of that volume being 500 CST specification. The Rotterdam and global 500 CST markets are poised for steady growth as the scrappage of older vessels continues in line with delivery of newer ships, more capable of burning the denser fuel.

The Platts 500 CST Rotterdam barge assessment is an end-of-trading-day value for fuel oil loading three to 15 days forward on Monday-Tuesday and five to 15 days forward on Wednesday-Friday. The Platts 500 CST Rotterdam bunker assessment, also an end-of-day value, will reflect fuel oil delivered one to eight days forward.

The Platts 500 CST Rotterdam barge assessment will be published in Platts' European Marketscan, Asia Pacific/Arab Gulf Marketscan, Oilgram Price Report, among others. The Platts 500 CST delivered Rotterdam bunker assessment will be published in Platts Bunkerwire and its monthly supplement.

The new assessments are underpinned by an all-day market monitoring process and the structured, long-established Platts Market-On-Close methodology, the details of which can be found on www.platts.com at this link.

The barge and bunker assessments announced by subscriber note on July 9(th) and launched today are an expansion of Platts' existing and long established suite of Rotterdam fuel oil barge and bunker assessments. For more information on oil and shipping, visit the Platts website.

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 based in London with more than 1000 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 and McGraw Hill Construction. The Company has approximately 17,000 employees in 29 countries. Additional information is available at www.mhfi.com.

CONTACT
Kathleen Tanzy
212-904-2860
Kathleen.tanzy@platts.com

SOURCE Platts

SOURCE: Platts