London, 12 November 2018

Global energy and commodity price reporting agency Argus has launched five new price assessments for fuel markets at the world’s largest bunkering locations, including Rotterdam, New York and the US Gulf coast.

These assessments are for fuel that complies with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) regulation that will reduce the allowable sulphur content in marine fuels to 0.5pc from 3.5pc from 1 January 2020. They expand on Argus’ recent launch of the industry’s first IMO-compliant 0.5pc sulphur marine fuel price in Singapore.

The IMO is a division of the UN and provides a regulatory framework for the shipping industry. The tighter sulphur regulations are intended to reduce air pollution. Some coastal regions already have emission control areas with a 0.1pc sulphur limit, but the global limit of 0.5pc is a major change for the shipping industry and its suppliers, which will require new price assessments to use in trade and risk management.

Through its global oil products services, Argus now delivers daily price assessments covering:

– 0.5pc sulphur fuel oil in northwest Europe
– 0.5pc sulphur marine gasoil in northwest Europe
– 0.5pc sulphur fuel oil at New York Harbor
– 0.5pc sulphur marine gasoil at New York Harbor
– 0.5pc sulphur fuel oil at the US Gulf coast
– 0.5pc sulphur fuel oil in Singapore

“Argus is pleased to be taking the lead in bringing price transparency that enables this large and emerging oil market to advance trading in preparation for the IMO 2020 required fuels, which will be quite different from the marine bunkers we see today,” Argus Media chairman and chief executive Adrian Binks said. “To comply, the market is already pursuing new benchmarks and new pricing tools that we now provide. With decades of experience in pricing these markets, Argus is uniquely qualified and well placed to provide the marine fuels industry with the most robust pricing solutions.”

About Argus Media

Argus is an independent media organisation with almost 1,100 staff. It is headquartered in London and has 26 offices in the world’s principal commodity trading and production centres. Argus produces price assessments and analysis of international energy and other commodity markets and offers bespoke consulting services and industry-leading conferences.

Companies in 140 countries around the world use Argus data to index physical trade and as benchmarks in financial derivative markets as well as for analysis and planning purposes.

Argus was founded in 1970 and is a privately held UK-registered company. It is owned by employee shareholders, global growth equity firm General Atlantic and Hg, the specialist software and technology services investor.

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