Platts announces alignment to 3:15 pm ET futures June 1

Following extensive consultation with the industry, Platts has decided to properly align differentials and flat prices at exactly 3:15 pm Eastern Time (ET) for its oil and petrochemical assessment processes in the Americas.

This alignment will take place with effect from June 1, 2009.

The alignment will bring the US crude oil and products markets to assessment standards already in place elsewhere, including Europe and Asia.

Platts assessment processes in the Americas will continue to operate with the same time frames where physical activity occurring up to 3:15 pm ET is considered in the daily assessments.

Critically, in those markets where commodities trade at differentials to futures, the prevailing futures prices at 3:15 pm ET will be used in the assessment process.

Platts continues to engage in active discussions with all stakeholders, including market participants and futures exchanges.

For any further comment, please contact Esa Ramasamy, +1 713-658-3292, Esa_ramasamy@platts.com, with a cc to pricegroup@platts.com.

For more information on the alignment decision, please visit the following links: http://www.platts.com/Oil/Resources/Market Issues/alignment0509.pdf http://www.platts.com/Oil/Resources/Market Issues/alignmentqa0509.pdf