LONDON and TOKYO, April 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Platts, the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets, announced today that it will publish new daily domestic Japanese waterborne price assessments across five oil products, beginning April 25, 2016. In addition, Platts intends to publish Japanese rack (land-based) price assessments later in 2016, following a period of consultation with market participants.

Currently, Platts assesses prices on a delivered basis for a wide range of Japan oil products such as naphtha (also known as mean of Platts Japan or MOPJ), gasoline and kerosene. In addition to these existing assessments, Platts has received strong interest from market participants for domestic Japanese waterborne and rack assessments for gasoline, kerosene, gasoil, high-sulfur fuel oil and low-sulfur fuel oil.

Sarah Cottle, Content Director, Asia, at Platts said: "We are excited to have this opportunity to work with market participants to bring a structured price assessment process to the domestic Japanese waterborne and rack oil markets. Our new price assessments will ensure that the specifications of the oil products meet the latest Japanese industrial standards with a clearly defined and transparent methodology that is easily accessible to local Japanese refiners, traders and dealers."

These new price assessments will adhere to Platts rigorous governance standards, and will be informed by Platts experience in ensuring that those of its assessments used as benchmarks adhere to the IOSCO Principles for Oil Price Reporting Agencies.

Platts presented its proposed methodology at a workshop in Tokyo on April 12, 2016 and outlined its firm commitment to bring increased transparency to the Japanese domestic oil market.

The domestic Japanese waterborne and rack assessments will be modeled on Platts Singapore refined product assessments, under which spot market prices are assessed through an independent and transparent price discovery process based on the Platts Market- on-Close (MOC) methodology.

The Platts MOC is a structured, highly-transparent price assessment process based on the principle that price is a function of time. The MOC process in oil identifies bids, offers and transactions by company name and results in a time-sensitive, end-of-trading-day daily value. For more information, visit this methodology and specification page of the Platts website.

Prices of the five waterborne and rack Japan oil products will be assessed for the loading locations of Tokyo Bay, Chukyo and Hanshin and reflect a Tokyo market close of 3.30 pm. The unit of measure will be Yen per Kiloliter (kl), with waterborne cargoes reflecting 1,000-2,000 kl and loading 7-20 days from the date of publication. Commentaries and market information will be published in Japanese on a daily basis.

Media Contacts:
Americas: Kathleen Tanzy, + 1 917 331 4607, kathleen.tanzy@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.

SOURCE Platts

SOURCE: Platts