HOUSTON, Sept. 29, 2011 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Platts, a leading global energy, petrochemicals and metals information provider, today expanded its offering of benchmark price references for the natural gas markets in North America to include daily balance-of-the-month price assessments. "This additional price information materially increases the value of our Platts-ICE* forward curves to our customers' mid and back offices by completing the spectrum of our coverage to include the balance of the month," said Marc Karstaedt, Platts senior director of risk data services. Platts' existing suite of natural gas price assessments include spot (current) values as well as its Platts-ICE forward curves which reflect values for prompt or first forward month out to more than three years' forward delivery. Thus, the balance-of-the-month assessments will address the value of natural gas for the brief period between those two sets of offerings. Expressed as dollars per MMBTU (million British thermal units), the new Platts balance-of-the-month assessments will reflect the market value of North American natural gas for the period beginning the first business day following the spot (current) day-ahead assessment period and extending through the end of the month. "Not only does the Platts balance-of-the-month data bring greater transparency to the curve, it allows energy companies seeking to value their holdings on a daily basis to reference against a full set of independent benchmarks," said Mike Wilczek, Platts senior markets editor, North American gas and power. The assessments will be published daily in Platts' real-time information and data services Platts Natural Gas Alert and Platts Market Data. Platts has been publishing forward-delivery price assessments of natural gas, known as the forward curve, since 2003. All of Platts natural gas price forward assessments are underpinned by Platts' well-established market-on-close methodology for natural gas and in North America reflect the transactable market value at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time. For more information on the methodology and for a list of the Platts assessment locations, consult the Platts forward curve methodology specifications available on the Platts website www.platts.com. *ICE stands for IntercontinentalExchange About Platts: Founded in 1909, Platts is a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals and metals information and a premier source of benchmark prices for the physical and futures markets. Platts' news, pricing, analytics, commentary and conferences help customers make better-informed trading and business decisions and help the markets operate with greater transparency and efficiency. Customers in more than 150 countries benefit from Platts' coverage of the carbon emissions, coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, metals, nuclear power, petrochemical, and shipping markets. A division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), Platts is headquartered in New York with more than 900 employees in more than 15 offices worldwide. Additional information is available at http://www.platts.com. About The McGraw-Hill Companies: Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global financial information and education company that helps professionals and students succeed in the Knowledge Economy. With leading brands including Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, Platts energy information services and J.D. Power and Associates, the Corporation has approximately 21,000 employees with more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2010 were $6.2 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.

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