HOUSTON, March 16 /PRNewswire/ --

Platts, a leading global energy information provider, today confirmed it will launch a major new crude oil price assessment to capture the representative value of crude oil in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the main hub for refining, production, importing and handling of crude oil in the United States. Platts' decision to begin publishing the new price assessment follows a period of extensive consultation with oil market participants.

Platts' new assessment, the Americas Crude Marker (ACM), will be published on a daily basis and joins the company's existing slate of U.S. sweet and sour crude oil assessments. The ACM assessment each day will reflect the most competitively priced crude oil among four U.S. Gulf Coast pipeline sour crudes: Mars, Poseidon, Southern Green Canyon, and Thunder Horse. The combined production of these crudes exceeds 800,000 barrels a day.

Market participants have long expressed the need for a benchmark that reflects broad crude oil economics in the U.S. Gulf Coast, said Jorge Montepeque, global director of market reporting for Platts. In this location, there is a strong confluence of buyers, sellers and refiners of crude oil, the necessary ingredients for reliable price formation.

The name for Americas Crude Marker was originally proposed as Americas Sour Marker. However, based on market feedback and consultation, it was determined that the name Americas Crude Marker would better reflect the refining economics, import flows and production in the United States.

The initial response by industry to the ACM has been very favorable, said Dan Tanz, vice president editorial, Platts. Producers and consumers have been seeking better indicators of crude oil value in the Americas. We are pleased to offer the market what we believe will be a valuable new reference price that captures the breadth of activity in the Americas' crude oil trading center.

Platts will publish ACM assessments for the first three months of trade. On March 16, ACM assessments will reflect crudes traded for April, May and June. The trading month rollover for ACM will take place on the first business day after the 25th of each calendar month, in line with the trading month rollover for the existing sour crude pipeline assessments. On March 26, ACM assessments will reflect trading for May, June and July.

More information is available on ACM, including a background discussion paper (http://www.platts.com/Oil/Resources/Market%20Issues/wtipricing.pdf?S=n) and a Question Answer document (http://www.platts.com/Oil/Resources/Methodology%20%20Specifications/asmqa. pdf?S=n). For more detailed information on Platts' global crude oil price assessment methodology (http://www.platts.com/elqNow/elqRedir.htm?ref=../Oil/Resources/Methodology %20%26%20Specifications/crudeoilspecs.pdf?S=n), visit the Platts website www.Platts.com.

About Platts: Platts, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is a leading global provider of energy and commodities information. With a century of business experience, Platts serves customers across more than 150 countries. An independent provider, Platts serves the oil, natural gas, electricity, emissions, nuclear power, coal, petrochemical, shipping, and metals markets from 17 offices worldwide. 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.

Kathleen Tanzy of Platts, +1-212-904-2860, Kathleen_tanzy@platts.com; or Non-Americas Media Contacts: Asia, Casey Yew, +65-653-06552, or Europe, Shiona Ramage, +44207-1766153