Liquid fuel industry - Platts´ answer requested

15.05.2009

The Austrian Federal Competition Authority´s investigations into the domestic liquid fuel industry revealed that most contracts on the upstream markets (ex-refinery and wholesale markets) are closely linked to the Platts notations. Furthermore the vertically integrated players regularly motivate their price changes at the retail level by the corresponding changes of the Platts notations. In regard of the obvious importance of the Platts notations for price setting the FCA considered it as an important issue to get information on the way these data are collected on on their reliablility. Thus the FCA requested Platts to provide some information on the number and general pattern of the contracts the notations are based on and on its ability to shield the notations from manipulations.