Benfield Licenses EQECAT's Gulf Of Mexico US Offshore Energy Model
October 16, 2007
Oakland, California
EQECAT, Inc., a subsidiary of ABSG Consulting Inc. (ABS Consulting), and the leading authority on extreme-risk modeling, announced today that Benfield (LSE: BFD), the world's leading independent reinsurance and risk intermediary, has signed an agreement to license EQECAT's Gulf of Mexico US Offshore Energy Model to assist clients in quantifying and managing risk in that market. The Offshore Energy Model is part of EQECAT's WORLDCATenterprise™ catastrophe management software platform.
John Moore, Head of International ReMetrics at Benfield commented, "Benfield is pleased to license the EQECAT Offshore Energy Model, as we assist clients to better understand their exposure to hurricanes in the Gulf."
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"EQECAT's Offshore Energy Model sets a new standard for modeling capabilities in that highly specialized market," said Richard Clinton, President of EQECAT.
"EQECAT is the first to provide a network reliability analysis to quantify the potential risk and impact of pipeline damage due to currents and mudslides that accompany hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico," said Mr. Clinton. "In fact, the EQECAT Offshore Energy Model was used for the analysis support for the only offshore energy catastrophe bond issued," Mr. Clinton continued.
The model is a result of collaboration between EQECAT and its parent ABS Consulting, which has decades of engineering and risk management expertise with offshore energy facilities. ABS Consulting is a leading independent provider of risk management services in the offshore energy market, providing solutions for marine and offshore operators, business, finance and government.
"The EQECAT model is able to differentiate risk for the various platform types based upon age, location, configuration and air gap, among other characteristics that are the risk drivers," said Mr. Clinton. "The model was validated with recent damage and loss data from more than 50 operators," he said.
About Benfield
Benfield is the world's leading specialist reinsurance and risk intermediary. Its customers include many of the world's major insurance and reinsurance companies as well as government entities and global corporations. Benfield operates from more than 40 locations worldwide. Benfield is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BFD. For additional information, please visit www.benfieldgroup.com.
EQECAT, Inc. provides state-of-the-art products and services to the global property and casualty insurance, reinsurance and financial markets. EQECAT is the technical leader and innovator of catastrophe risk management models that quantify exposure to a range of natural and man-made catastrophic risks.
Through its modeling software platform, WORLDCATenterprise, EQECAT enables clients to quantify and manage the potential financial impact of natural hazards. WORLDCATenterprise includes 181 natural hazard software models for 95 countries spanning six continents. These models are based upon innovative applications of the latest science, engineering expertise, claims and exposure data and advanced mathematics.
EQECAT, a subsidiary of ABSG Consulting Inc., was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Oakland, California.
For more information, contact:
pr@eqecat.com