Argus Media

Argus
Company typePrivate
Founded1970 (1970)
Headquarters
Lacon House, 84 Theobald's Road, London, WC1X 8NL
,
U.K
Number of locations
30 Offices Worldwide
Area served
Worldwide
Number of employees
1500+
Websiteargusmedia.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

Argus (formerly known as Petroleum Argus Ltd[2]) is an independent publisher which provides news, price information, data, analytics consultancy services and conferences, for the global petroleum, natural gas, electricity, emissions, biofuels, biomass, LPG, metals, chemicals, fertilizers, agriculture and coal industries.

Overview

Argus is a privately held UK-registered company[2] which publishes news, price assessments, Data, analytics and consulting services of international energy and other commodity markets. It also offers conferences.

Argus was the first price-reporting agency to apply the IOSCO Principles for Oil Price Reporting Agencies in 2013, and subsequently roll them out to cover the other energy and commodity markets it covers. Argus retains the services of a leading accounting firm to undertake an annual independent assurance review to verify adherence to the Principles.[3]

Argus was owned by the family of its founder Jan Nasmyth and its senior staff, but in September 2016 a majority-stake was sold to the equity firm General Atlantic valuing the company at $1.4 billion.[4][5] The company’s ownership structure was updated in 2024 when Chairman and Chief Executive, Adrian Binks became majority owner and General Atlantic consolidated its stake[6]

Argus's headquarters are in London, with major offices in Houston, Dubai, Singapore, Paris, Seoul, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Riga, Kyiv, Astana, Calgary, San Francisco, Mexico City, Washington DC, Pittsburgh, New York, São Paulo, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, Mumbai, Sydney, Granada, Brussels, Lagos, and Cape Town.[7]

Prices assessed by Argus for energy, fertilizer, metals, chemicals and agriculture markets are widely used as benchmarks to settle futures contracts and as indexes for short or long term physical supply contracts.

History

Argus was established in 1970 by former Daily Telegraph journalist Jan Nasmyth.[4][8][9] In 1985, Argus opened offices in Singapore and Houston, covering European gas and power in 1995, and coal and biofuels in early 2000s.

In 2011, Argus bought FMB Consultants Ltd (FMB) - a price reporting agency for international fertilizer markets.[10][11] FMB was founded in 1982 and focused on nitrogen, phosphate, sulphur, potash and ammonia.[10]

In 2012, Argus also acquired US petrochemical market intelligence, pricing and consulting firm DeWitt & Co,[10][12][13] and European power and gas fundamental data provider Fundalytics.[14] In 2013, Argus bought petrochemical market specialists TABrewer Consulting[15] and Jim Jordan & Associates.[10][16]

Argus launched coverage of the global iron ore market with daily report Argus Steel Feedstocks in February 2013.[17] Argus expanded its metals coverage further in 2015, after acquiring MetalPrices.com[18] - a specialist pricing, news and analysis service focusing on speciality metals, rare earths and ferro-alloys.[19]

In 2018, Argus purchased Integer Research a London-based market intelligence, conference and consulting firm.

In 2019, Argus acquired German oil reporting specialist O.M.R.[20]

In 2020, Argus bought French agricultural intelligence company Agritel.[21]

In 2021, Argus acquired the renewable chemicals specialist Oleochem Analytics.

In 2022, Argus acquired Pipe Logix, a US-based provider of pipe and tube market information.

In 2023, Argus acquired Mercaris, a US-based provider of organic and non-GMO commodity prices.[22]

Awards

Argus won the Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade (Export) in the UK in 2002,[23] 2009[24][25] and 2015.[26][27]

References

  1. ^ "About us". Argus. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  2. ^ a b "ARGUS MEDIA LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Fixing the fix". The Economist. 10 February 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Argus company scooped up by General Atlantic". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  5. ^ "General Atlantic Agrees to Buy Majority Stake in Argus". Bloomberg.com. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Client Challenge". www.ft.com. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  7. ^ "Contact Us | Argus Media". www.argusmedia.com. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Jan Nasmyth: nonconformist oil industry journalist". The Times. 26 September 2008. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  9. ^ "Family owners of Argus in line for £500m payout from sale". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  10. ^ a b c d Johnson, Owain (9 August 2017). The Price Reporters : A Guide to PRAs and Commodity Benchmarks (1st ed.). ISBN 9781351760553. OCLC 1001389267.
  11. ^ "Top 50 Rising Stars: The UK's most exciting fast-growth businesses". Growth Business. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  12. ^ "Argus buys DeWitt to expand energy data-reporting". 13 WTHR Indianapolis. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  13. ^ "Argus buys consulting firm DeWitt & Co. - Plastics News". www.plasticsnews.com. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  14. ^ "Argus today announced the acquisition of Fundalytics | Media Mergers". www.mediamergers.co.uk. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  15. ^ "Argus acquires TABrewer Consulting, expands presence in petrochemical consulting". www.digitalrefining.com. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  16. ^ "Jim Jordan & Associates, LP: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  17. ^ "Argus introduces global iron ore price assessments". SteelGuru India. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  18. ^ TWK. "Argus - Fast Track". Fast Track. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  19. ^ "Metalprices.com, Inc.: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  20. ^ "Argus buys German oil reporting specialist O.M.R. | Argus Media".
  21. ^ "Argus acquires agricultural specialist Agritel | Argus Media".
  22. ^ "Argus acquires US sustainable agriculture pricing provider, Mercaris | Argus Media". www.argusmedia.com. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  23. ^ "The Queen's Awards for Enterprise 2002: International Trade, Innovation, and Sustainable Development". The London Gazette. 56544, Supplement No. 1: 1. 21 April 2002 – via The Gazette.
  24. ^ "International Trade « Award Category «". queensawardsmagazine.com. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  25. ^ "The Queen's Awards for Enterprise 2009" (PDF). The London Gazette. 59039, Supplement No. 1: 1. April 2009 – via The Gazette.
  26. ^ "2015 Press Book" (PDF). The Queen's Award for Enterprise. April 2015 – via Gov.uk.
  27. ^ "The Queen's Awards for Enterprise 2015". The London Gazette. 61204, Supplement No. 1: 3. April 2015 – via The Gazette.
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