HOUSTON, Feb. 27, 2015
/PRNewswire/ -- Platts, a leading global provider of energy
and commodities information, this week launched a new price
assessment that reflects the value of West Texas Intermediate
Midland crude oil at the Magellan East Houston Terminal (MEH).
Known as Platts WTI MEH, the assessment is the latest in
a suite of evolving physical market price references designed to
reflect crude oil spot market developments in the Houston area.
U.S. crude oil markets are experiencing a surge in storage,
terminal and crude oil pipelines, leading to the emergence of new
trading centers and Platts is working with the industry to address
the need for new and relevant price markers. The Platts WTI
MEH assessment addresses industry requests for a new price marker
for light, sweet crude oil in the U.S. Gulf Coast, stemming from
the increase in spot trading at the Magellan East Houston
terminal.
"The surge in light, tight oil production in recent years has
prompted the emergence of new trading patterns and significant
changes to existing crude oil flows within the United States," said Dave Ernsberger, Platts global editorial
director of oil.
The Platts WTI MEH assessment is 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. Details can be found on
the methodology and specifications page on Platts.com.
Platts WTI MEH complements the Platts Light Houston Sweet (LHS)
assessment, launched in July 2013,
which represents the value of oil delivered not only out of
Magellan East Houston terminal but also out of the Enterprise Crude
Houston (ECHO) and Oiltanking Houston (OTI) terminals.
"In recent months we have seen a rapid increase in the volume of
WTI Midland crude trading in Houston," said Richard Swann, Platts editorial director of
oil, Americas. "This market has matured to the point where it now
clearly has its own fundamentals, well beyond those of traditional
WTI, often more linked to supply, demand and storage developments
in Cushing, Oklahoma. We believe
Platts WTI MEH will serve as one of the most relevant price
references for crude oil producers, refiners and traders."
Other recent additions to Platts' suite of oil price references
include price assessments for crude oil from the Bakken shale
formation in North Dakota and
Eagle Ford in southern Texas.
The Platts WTI MEH assessment reflects crude oil with an
American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity ranging from 36-44
degrees and maximum 0.45% sulfur content. API gravity is a measure
of how heavy or light a grade of crude oil is compared to
water.
Platts WTI MEH assessments are published in real-time service
Platts Global Alert, as well as Platts Crude Oil
Marketwire, Platts Oilgram Price Report and Platts North
American Crude and Products Scan.
For more information on oil, visit the plats website at
www.platts.com.
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
www.platts.com.
About McGraw Hill Financial: McGraw Hill Financial, 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 18,000 employees in 30 countries. Additional
information is available at www.mhfi.com.
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SOURCE Platts