SINGAPORE - Energy and commodities price agency S&P Global Platts is setting up an innovation lab in Singapore to catalyse the digitalisation of commodity markets.

The firm plans to host market participants in innovation workshops or hackathons to explore the use of blockchain, alternative data sets and new computational methods to trade and risk-manage commodity portfolios, it said in an announcement released at the annual Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC conference) in Singapore on Monday (sept 24).

S&P Global Platts added that it will work with government agency Enterprise Singapore to develop and deploy innovative solutions with the goal of providing market participants with robust and timely information.

For a start, it will seek market participants' input and develop use cases for digitally capturing, verifying and reporting oil inventory data.

Speaking at the event, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Dr Koh Poh Koon said: "New technologies will significantly change how the energy trading industry operates, in ways such as streamlining business processes and opening up access to financing."

Dr Koh added that start-ups play a key role in developing such solutions for businesses in the energy industry, with many having established their Asian base here in Singapore.

These start-ups stand to benefit from the grooming and mentorship that Platts Lab will offer, Satvinder Singh, Assistant CEO of Enterprise Singapore said.

Singapore is of S&P Global Platts' three global commodities hub. The Republic is also the birthplace for the price agency's many benchmarks, including the Platts JKM benchmark for the liquefied natural gas marketplace.