New assessment to complement existing Dated Brent FOB

Publication starts on Monday, March 14, 2016

LONDON, Feb. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Platts, the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets, announced today that it will publish a new price assessment of North Sea light sweet crude on a delivered basis into Rotterdam. The new Dated Brent Cost-Insurance-Freight (CIF) Rotterdam assessment will be complementary to the existing Dated Brent Free-On-Board (FOB) assessment. The new price assessment will be published from Monday, March 14, 2016.

Over 2015, the Platts Dated Brent crude basket - composed of the Brent Ninian Blend, Forties, Oseberg and Ekofisk grades (BFOE) - saw healthy available supplies averaging 53 cargoes per month. However, Platts forecasts production will decline to 38 cargoes of crude per month by 2020, falling to 20 in 2025. The current low oil price environment may place further pressure on cargo volumes.

Dave Ernsberger, global head of oil content at Platts said: "While North Sea production remains robust, our analysis forecasts significant declines in volumes of BFOE available for trading over the next decade. We have therefore instigated open discussions about the need to evolve the benchmark in order to ensure it remains relevant and reflects changing market dynamics. Today's launch of Dated Brent CIF Rotterdam is the first step on that path. It provides market participants with visibility on an important hub for crude oil and complements our existing FOB assessment."

Platts has been working with market participants on the evolution of North Sea crude for a number of years and held an open methodology session in London in December 2015. A range of scenarios were outlined including adding grades of crude oil loading in the North Sea as well as crude being brought into the region from elsewhere.

Currently, around a quarter of crude flowing into Rotterdam, one of the world's key crude import hubs, comes from the North Sea, another quarter comes from the Middle East, and about a fifth from the Baltic region. The new Dated Brent CIF Rotterdam assessment reflects the value of BFOE delivered into Rotterdam on a Cost, Insurance and Freight basis. It is a crucial tool to provide pricing visibility on the value of North Sea crude in an important oil hub.

Platts Dated Brent oil assessments are built on the Platts Market-on-Close (MOC) methodology, a structured, highly-transparent price assessment process based on the principle that price is a function of time. The MOC process in oil identifies bid, offer and transaction data by company and results in a time-sensitive, end-of-trading-day daily price assessment. For more information, visit this methodology and specification page of the Platts website.

The Dated Brent CIF Rotterdam assessment will be published in real-time service Platts Global Alert, as well as Platts Crude Oil Marketwire and Platts Oilgram Price Report. For more information on oil visit the Platts website at www.platts.com.

About Platts: Platts is the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets. Customers in over 150 countries look to Platts' expertise in news, pricing and analytics to deliver greater transparency and efficiency to markets and help them make better informed trading and business decisions. Founded in 1909, Platts' coverage includes oil and gas, power, petrochemicals, metals, agriculture and shipping. A division of McGraw Hill Financial, Platts is headquartered in London and employs over 1,000 people in more than 15 offices worldwide. Additional information is available at http://www.platts.com.

About McGraw Hill Financial: McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI) is a leading financial intelligence company providing the global capital and commodity markets with independent benchmarks, credit ratings, portfolio and enterprise risk solutions, and analytics. The Company's iconic brands include Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ and SNL, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Platts, CRISIL and J.D. Power. The Company has approximately 20,000 employees in 31 countries. Additional information is available at www.mhfi.com.

Media Contact:
Americas: Kathleen Tanzy, + 1 917 331 4607, kathleen.tanzy@platts.com

SOURCE: Platts