S&P Global Energy is a provider of energy and commodities information and a source of benchmark price assessments in the physical commodity markets. The business was started with the foundation in 1909 of the magazine National Petroleum News by Warren C. Platt.
S&P Global Energy is recognized as one of the most significant price reporting agencies for the oil market.[1]
Overview
From an original focus on the oil industry, S&P Global Energy gradually expanded its purview to include metals, agriculture, shipping, and all energy-related markets – oil, coal, natural gas, electricity, nuclear power, petrochemicals, renewables, and emissions.
Corporate history
Warren C. Platt (1883–1963) started the magazine National Petroleum News in Cleveland, Ohio in 1909. He expanded the business with the publication of the newsletter called Platts Oilgram in 1923, which went on to be recognized as an influential source for petroleum prices. The companies founded by Platt that published prices and news were acquired in 1953 to become part of what was then known as McGraw-Hill group, which was later to become S&P Global. The publication activities that started with petroleum later expanded to cover energy and commodities, which were all undertaken by the division that became known as Platts.[2]
In 2000, McGraw-Hill merged Platts with other like assets to turn the company into a provider of energy information.[3] In 2016, when McGraw-Hill changed its name to S&P Global, the Platts division was renamed S&P Global Platts.
Platts' first significant acquisition came in 2001, when it acquired FT Energy.[4] That acquisition gave it the Platts Global Energy Awards, considered one of the industry's biggest awards event, held every December in New York.[5]
Beginning in 2010, Platts' parent started making acquisitions to significantly grow the Platts business, including: Bentek Energy, a natural gas-focused analytics firm, in 2010;[6] Eclipse Energy;[7] Kingsman;[7] Minerals Value Service;[7] RigData in 2016[8] (RigData was sold to Drillinginfo in 2019[9]); Commodity Flow in 2016;[10] and PIRA.[7] An attempt to acquire OPIS in 2011 failed following market objections and Federal Trade Commission resistance.[11]
In 2022, when S&P Global completed a merger with IHS Markit, it combined the divisions S&P Global Platts and IHS Markit ENR to form the renamed S&P Global Commodity Insights, dropping Platts from the division's name,[12] though preserving it in the ongoing Platts Global Energy Awards.[13] Former IHS brands that were retained include CERAWeek and Chemical Week.[14]
On November 14, 2025, S&P Global announced the rebranding of Commodity Insights to S&P Global Energy, effective immediately, to sharpen its focus on global energy intelligence amid evolving market demands.[15]
See also
- Foster Natural Gas/Oil Report
- Mean of Platts Singapore
- Oil & Gas Journal
- Cambridge Energy Research Associates
- CERAWeek
External links
- https://www.spglobal.com/energy
References
- Oil Price Reporting Agencies: Report by IEA, IEF, OPEC and IOSCO to G20 Finance Ministers Jointly published by International Energy Agency, International Energy Forum, OPEC and International Organization of Securities Commissions, October 2011^
- Platts – An Historical Perspective S&P Global, May 2009, retrieved November 21, 2016^
- Platts History S&P Global, retrieved February 22, 2010^
- Owain Johnson. The Price Reporters: A Guide to PRAs and Commodity Benchmarks Routledge, 9 August 2017^
- Global Energy Awards--HomePage geaweb.platts.com^
- Bentek Energy Data Automation and Integration, retrieved 2022-10-27^
- Media Center, Energy Expert Interview, Press Releases - S&P Global Platts www.spglobal.com^
- S&P Global Platts Acquires RigData rigdata.com, 2 June 2016, retrieved 15 March 2021^
- S&P Global Inc. (SPGI) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Transcript finance.yahoo.com, 1 August 2019, retrieved 15 March 2021^
- Platts Acquires Commodity Flow spglobal.com, S&P Global Platts, 15 March 2016, retrieved 15 March 2021^
- UCG Cancels Sale of OPIS to McGraw-Hill's Platts Unit 21 February 2011^
- About S&P Global Commodity Insights S&P Global, retrieved 2024-08-14^
- Platts Global Energy Awards S&P Global, retrieved 2024-08-14^
- Mark Eramo. Shaping the Future of Chemicals: Insights from S&P Global’s Mark Eramo The Chemical Show, 6 November 2024, retrieved 24 September 2025^
- S&P Global rebrands Commodity Insights as S&P Global Energy to sharpen focus on global energy intelligence World Oil, 2025-11-14, retrieved 2025-11-17^