17th January 2012 - CatVest Petroleum Services LLC, the specialist risk modelling, quantification and structuring firm for the energy and chemical sectors today announce the official launch of their EnergyRisk Model and Industry Loss Index.

CatVest Petroleum Services are specialists in comprehensive analysis, modeling and quantification of risks of energy losses for both offshore and onshore risks. CatVest’s modeling services are specifically designed to assist with transfer of these risks to the capital markets through the use of financial instruments such as insurance-linked securities and industry-loss warranties.

With years of modeling experience in the offshore and onshore energy and chemical sectors CatVest‘s team have devised a suite of modeling tools allowing for accurate estimation, analyses, calculation and indexing of catastrophic losses (including those from physical damages, operators extra expenses, business interruption, incident response costs, third party losses and natural resource damages) in the offshore and onshore oil and gas energy and chemical industries worldwide.

The patent pending CatVest EnergyRisk Model focuses on broader, more comprehensive energy losses. It allows for accurate estimation, analysis, calculation and indexing of catastrophic losses in offshore and onshore oil and gas energy and chemical facilities around the world. This model is tailored specifically for the purposes of creating industry loss indices for the energy sector. These energy industry loss indices can be used to assist with the design, structuring and triggering of cost-effective insurance linked securities or industry loss warranty derivatives.

Commenting on the launch of the CatVest Energy Risk Model, CatVest managing partner and chief scientist Timothy J. Reilly said: “The CatVest EnergyRisk Model provides the objective and accurate energy loss risk analyses and post event loss calculation procedures needed by the Oil and Gas industry to facilitate cost effective insurance coverage”.

CatVest Petroleum Services have already created industry loss indices for a number of major oil and gas producing regions of the world, including the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. The EnergyRisk Model is suited to creating geographically targeted indices for quantification and measurement of losses for any region of the world.

CatVest Petroleum Services also offer the world’s most advanced oil and hazardous material spill risk modeling services, having perfected the creation of parametric indices for oil and chemical spill risk using the CatVest SpillRisk Model. CatVests SpillRisk model enables spill risk transfer to the capital markets through catastrophe bond type (ILS) structures.

CatVest Petroleum Services LLC is currently working on a large North Sea offshore energy industry-loss warranty (ILW) transaction with one of the world’s largest reinsurance brokers for a major global reinsurer. They are actively seeking other opportunities to work with insurers, reinsurers, brokers and also oil and gas energy corporations who are seeking to facilitate the transfer of these types of risk.

About CatVest Petroleum Services LLC:
CatVest Petroleum Services LLC was established in 2011, bringing together the premier company involved in oil, gas and hazardous material loss risk assessment/management, environmental damage claims and spill response & restoration; insurance-linked securities experts with years of experience in the market; and securities and derivatives structuring legal counsel experienced in these types of asset transactions. With a focus on comprehensive energy loss and oil spill risk transfer, offering to structure, arrange and provide the risk modeling necessary to bring a deal to market, they are a one stop shop looking to work with oil/energy companies, brokers, insurers and reinsurers holding significant risks.

16th August, 2011 – The oil industry is still reeling from the size of the liability claims that resulted from the Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Historically the oil industry is underinsured and relies on self insurance to provide the financial means to pay for any major claims resulting from accidents and disasters.

The reasons for this lack of cover are many, but often it boils down to a lack of capacity in the traditional insurance and reinsurance markets and the annual premium cost. Insurance can be expensive for oil industry corporations and reinsurers are unwilling to take on too much of this peak risk. This leaves companies operating in the oil industry to rely upon state or international civil liability convention sponsored liability trust funds and self-insurance mechanisms.

CatVest Petroleum Services LLC believes there is another way. With years of experience in the insurance-linked securities, catastrophe bond, reinsurance and oil spill risk assessment sectors, the founders of CatVest Petroleum Services LLC believe that the time is ripe for oil companies to replicate the capital markets securitization vehicles often used by insurers to hedge catastrophe risks such as hurricanes and earthquakes.

Historically, issuers of insurance-linked securities (ILS) have packaged portions of their risk (usually in the hundreds of millions of dollars), transformed them into securities and then sold these securities to investors who bore the risk. The contracts have pre-set trigger parameters which if met, activate the protection and investors can lose their principal. Investors are willing to accept portions of this risk in return for attractive rates of interest in an asset class which has low correlation to the wider financial markets.

Given the current financial crisis insurance-linked securities are seeing huge tremendous appetite from large institutional investors seeking to access the asset class. However, traditional catastrophe bonds are not providing enough capacity leaving many investors frustrated and unable to access the market. During this volatile capital market environment, CatVest Petroleum Services LLC’s approach facilitates investors and issuers alike for transferring new types of risk such as oil spill liability into the marketplace. Having explored this opportunity with institutional investors it is clear that they would be willing to take on much larger amounts of oil spill risk than otherwise seen in previous ILS issuances.

CatVest Petroleum Services LLC is the only company focused on providing insurance-linked securities services to the oil industry, with over ten years experience in the ILS market and many years of experience structuring and arranging ILS associated transactions. Bringing the world’s premier team of oil spill damage claims, modeling, risk assessment and analysis experts together with ILS expertise, CatVest Petroleum Services LLC offers a one-stop shop to help oil, gas, chemical and shipping companies secure a new source of reinsurance cover from the capital markets. Our oil spill experts have created the world’s only oil spill risk model called SPILLRISK, which removes many of the uncertainties surrounding this type of disaster. By taking into account factors such as geographic location, proximity to sensitive areas of coastline as well as spill type, volume and spread, the SPILLRISK model is the only model able to accurately generate exceedance curves and loss probabilities.

CatVest Petroleum Services LLC’s world-leading SPILLRISK modeling system integrates decades of oil spill fate, effects and damage modeling to derive a robust parametric trigger which directly addresses moral hazard and adverse selection, and mitigates basis risk.

CatVest Petroleum Services LLC welcomes discussion with any firms having significant oil, gas, chemical and hazardous substances spill risks that are interested in first quantifying and then transferring these financial risk exposures to outside investors. Oil rig operators, pipeline operators, shipping tanker fleet owners and all other associated companies are also welcome to contact CatVest Petroleum Services LLC for further information or to initiate an engagement.

CatVest Petroleum Services LLC welcomes discussion with any insurers and reinsurers who hold significant amounts of oil, gas, chemical and hazardous substances spill risk and captive insurers having similar risks to transfer.

By transferring a portion of your oil spill risk to capital markets investors with CatVest Petroleum Services LLC’s modeling and risk transfer expertise, firms secure a diverse form of reinsurance cover, on multi-year terms which are fully collateralized and often significantly cheaper than traditional reinsurance. Uniquely in the risk markets, CatVest Petroleum Services LLC allows firms to achieve up to full oil spill risk transfer.

About CatVest Petroleum Services LLC:
CatVest Petroleum Services LLC was established recently, merging the premier company involved involved in oil and hazardous substance spill risk assessment/management, environmental damage claims and spill response & restoration; insurance-linked securities experts with years of experience in the market; and securities and derivatives structuring legal counsel experienced in these type of asset transactions. With a focus on oil spill risk transfer, offering to structure, arrange and provide the risk modeling necessary to bring a deal to market they are a one stop shop looking to work with oil companies, insurers and reinsurers holding significant risks.