Argus completes eighth benchmark review

7 October 2019

Leading global energy and commodity news and price reporting agency Argus has successfully completed the eighth external assurance review of its energy and commodity benchmarks and other key prices.

Independent professional services company PwC examined the policies and processes through which Argus assesses prices for crude oil, oil products, LPG, petrochemicals, thermal and coking coal, natural gas, biofuels, biomass, iron ore and steel.

The policies and processes reviewed by PwC were designed by Argus to comply with the principles for price reporting agencies (PRAs) set out by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (the Iosco PRA Principles) in October 2012.

Argus Media chairman and chief executive Adrian Binks said: “We have extended again the external review of our key prices and benchmarks this year. The Iosco PRA principles help to demonstrate that Argus prices, which our customers use as references in physical and derivative contracts, planning and analysis, are produced through a reliable, transparent and robust methodology.”

Argus became the first PRA to complete an independent review of oil benchmarks, in October 2013, and was the first to extend the Iosco PRA Principles to non-oil energy benchmarks, in January 2014.

The Iosco PRA Principles were endorsed by the G20 in November 2012. They cover governance, control, quality, integrity and conflict management in relation to commodity benchmark price assessments published by PRAs and require an annual external audit.

Argus’ description of its policies and procedures, together with the full assurance review, are publicly available, and Argus’ price assessment methodologies are also online.

The Iosco PRA Principles are available at http://www.iosco.org/library/pubdocs/pdf/IOSCOPD391.pdf