SUBSCRIBER NOTE: S&P Global Platts and ICE Natural Gas Agreement

S&P Global Platts (Platts), the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets, and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses, announced they have entered into a strategic agreement to strengthen North America's natural gas benchmarks, streamline the reporting process, and further improve transparency in over-the-counter (OTC) pricing.

Under this agreement, ICE data regarding daily and monthly physical natural gas transactions will be anonymized and included as inputs into the Platts physical market price assessment processes.

Not only will the addition of ICE data increase the volumes of natural gas underpinning the Platts natural gas benchmarks, it will expand the number of trades and market participants reflected in the Platts price assessment processes.

After a transitional period, Platts will grant ICE exclusive rights to use Platts North American physical natural gas benchmarks in the settling and clearing of natural gas derivatives contracts.

A key benefit of this agreement is that market participants will be able to use ICE exchange transactions and ICE eConfirm, an industry-leading electronic trade confirmation service, as a means of having their transactions data used in the Platts price assessment process.

This brings additional data and efficiency to the assessment process, which traditionally comprises emailing trades to Platts.

A transition period will apply before Platts incorporates the ICE data into its assessments and before ICE eConfirm can be used for submitting trades, and is targeted for mid-first half 2017.

Visit the online resource www.platts.com/ice or contact Mark Callahan, Editorial Director Global Natural Gas and Power Pricing, at mark.callahan@spglobal.com or 713-658-3211 for additional information.