Argus Media is one of the media sponsors of the Baghdad International Energy Forum organized by the Ghadan Risk Management Foundation, the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and the Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) in cooperation with the Iraqi Institute for Dialogue, the Central Bank of Iraq and the Media and Communications Commission on September 6-7, 2025.
Argus Media is one of the most important sources of information and pricing in the global energy markets, playing a pivotal role in determining oil and gas prices, giving it a direct impact on the economies of commodity-exporting and importing countries.
Origin and development
Founded in 1970 in London as an energy market news and analysis publication, Argus Media has grown from a modest media outlet to one of the world's largest providers of price data and analysis, expanding into oil, gas, coal, electricity, metals, fertilizers, and petrochemicals.
Its position in the global energy market
Argus is one of the big three players in the energy pricing space along with Platts (S&P Global) and ICIS.
Argus prices are used as benchmarks in contracts for the sale and purchase of crude oil, natural gas, and petroleum products.
Its flagship Argus Sour Crude Index (ASCI) has become an official benchmark for pricing US crude exports (especially Gulf of Mexico crude) and is used in contracts with major companies such as Saudi Aramco, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and Iraq's SOMO.
Geographical spread
The company has offices in more than 29 cities around the world (London, Houston, Moscow, Dubai, Singapore, Beijing, Beijing, Paris, Tokyo, etc.). This spread gives them the ability to gather first-hand data from regional markets, increasing the credibility and accuracy of their assessments.
The importance of Argus to oil-exporting countries
Many national oil companies rely on Argus indices as a basis for pricing their exports, including: Iraq (SOMO) for Basra crude. Kuwait and Aramco for Gulf crude.
This makes Argus a lobbying tool and strategic influence in global markets, especially with the competition between OPEC+ producers.
Services and analytics
Argus provides:
Daily price assessments for more than 25,000 items.
Analytical reports on supply and demand trends.
Predictive tools that help businesses and governments make strategic decisions.
Annual conferences that serve as a meeting place for decision makers in the energy sector.
Strengths
High credibility, transparent standards, and a global network of experts.
Independence from governments and producing companies, which enhances market confidence.
comments