A continuing, detailed forecast of North American gas and LNG markets for asset management and investors, supported by proprietary scenario analyses, to evaluate buy, sell, build investment decisions.

The Platts Gas Outlook Research Service (GORS) provides the data, analyses and insights required to make profitable operational and investment decisions about natural gas supply, infrastructure, and consumption assets. The Outlook provides stakeholders in these assets with forecasts and analyses of natural gas demand, supply, transportation, and storage capacities and construction trends over the next construction cycles. The Outlook identifies leading and emerging indicators of market change that will allow users to prioritize their resources to address challenges and opportunities in the North American gas market.

With a consistent and transparent long-term view, the Gas Outlook Research Service uses fundamental market metrics to forecast the evolution of the market demand and estimate supply, transmission and storage investment requirements. Demand metrics are generated from macroeconomic analyses, Platts Power Outlook Research Service and Platts Coal Market Forecasts, and Platts increasingly detailed assessments of world LNG supply and demand. Price of supply, tuned with long-dated forward curves from Platts Risk Management products to match the market's risk premium expectations, is used to equilibrate continent’s supply and demand.

The Outlook is a continuously updated, independent and fully-qualified forecast of the North American gas market. Platts’ economists and market simulation modelers maintain the model and generate an annual base line update in the second quarter of the year. Scenario, or “what-if”, analyses are published in the first, third and fourth quarters. Scenario analyses forecast impacts of short-term events, proposed legislation affecting industrial and generation customers, and early indications of divergence from domestic supply trends that affect the gas market. Assessments of the impact of new supplies (North Slope gas, Mackenzie Delta gas, and LNG) and increased storage capacity on supply-demand equilibrium are examples of the theses driving “what-if” analyses. Customized scenarios, relevant to a client’s particular market position or opportunity, can be developed.

Platts provides a complete data set of the assumptions and simulation results for the annual base line update focused on planning and analyst professionals, plus a detailed discussion and analysis of the strategic dimensions of the forecast for management and investors. Scenario analyses provide variances to the base case forecast with an emphasis on the interpretation of impacts on stakeholders. These variance studies are designed to support industry leaders in their thought leadership responsibilities.

Management synopses of the Gas Outlook Research Service forecasts are available to decision makers and analysts in the coal and power industries. The synopses are distilled versions of the forecast suitable for management whose companies are suppliers to, or consumers of, the natural gas industry. Publication of Platts Coal Market Forecasts and GORS-Power synopses follow the GORS schedule.

For a one-on-one interactive demonstration and a complete listing of Gas Outlook Research Service market data, call Platts at 1-800-PLATTS8 (toll-free from North America) or e-mail us at support@platts.com.