NEW YORK, April 19 /PRNewswire/ --
Platts, the world's leading energy information provider and a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), today said it will add North Sea crude oil Ekofisk to Dated Brent, the world's premier oil benchmark. Dated Brent is used in spot and long-term contracts to value as much as 60% of the 85 million barrels of crude oil produced in global oil markets each day.
Platts currently determines the Dated Brent assessment by tracking the most competitive of Brent, Forties and Oseberg crudes produced in the North Sea. Platts will include Ekofisk among those crude grades used to assess Dated Brent as of June 8, 2007. Also from the same date, Platts will start assessing the 21-day Brent instrument, taking into consideration only those bids and offers that include Brent, Forties, Oseberg and Ekofisk as potential delivered crude oils in the contract. The 21-day Brent instrument provides value to the Brent financially-settled futures contract.
"In a world of declining crude oil production in mature fields, the addition of Ekofisk to the Brent assessment will enhance the integrity of one of the world's most important tools for establishing the true value of oil in global markets," said Jorge Montepeque, Platts' Global Director of Markets. "The world needs solid and robust benchmarks and Brent is the most important barometer of fundamental crude oil value in the world."
Platts conducted an extensive period of review and analysis and reached the conclusion that additional volumes of crude oil needed to be factored into the assessment mechanism to maintain the reliability of the Dated Brent benchmark. The addition of Ekofisk boosts the number of cargoes available for the assessment process from less than 50 to more than 70 cargoes per month, or around 45 million barrels per month.
About Platts
Platts, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is a leading global provider of energy and metals information and a top supplier of benchmark prices in the physical markets. With nearly a century of business experience, Platts serves customers across more than 150 countries. From 14 offices worldwide, Platts serves the oil, natural gas, electricity, nuclear power, coal, petrochemical and metals markets. 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 information is available at http://www.platts.com.
About The McGraw-Hill Companies:
Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2006 were US$6.3 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.
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Kathleen Tanzy, +1-212-904-2860, kathleen_tanzy@platts.com, Europe: Dan Tanz, Dan_tanz@platts.com, +44-20-7176-6170, Asia: John Ho, John_ho@platts.com, +65-65306595, all of Platts
