Energy Risk at 30: Learning from the past
Energy Risk looks back at the seminal events and developments that have shaped today’s energy markets
For the past three decades, Energy Risk has followed closely the energy sector’s many triumphs and disasters, charting its course through the early 1990s’ challenges of applying quantitative models to power markets, to the monumental effort required today to achieve the energy transition.
There is much to be learnt from the past – and not just to avoid repeating mistakes – but because peeling back the layers is a good way to better understand the mind-boggling complexity of some of today’s markets.
Here we present a selection of articles that cover some of the major developments in energy trading and risk management of the past 30 years.
Analysing the biggest failures and losses at energy firms can build a case for the value of consistent, high-quality risk management. This article looks at the biggest energy risk managment disasters to occur between 1993 and 2010.
Past disasters can prove the value of energy risk management
This article tells the sometimes-painful story of how quantitative analysis of power markets began and evolved.
In this article, first published 10 years after the dramatic 2001 collapse of Enron, Energy Risk talks to ex-employees about how the company achieved what it did and what lessons it can still teach us today. It also gives clear accounts, with a timeline, of what went wrong.
More on Risk management
How AI agents can join the dots for risk managers
Citi risk expert outlines agentic AI tool that would pull together structured and unstructured data on trading and lending approvals to create single, unified view of risk
In Iran war, VAR models ease cliff effect on Ice and CME margins
At 105%, EEX – using Span model – saw largest single-day jump compared with those CCPs
Newcomer of the year: Abaxx Exchange
Energy Risk Awards 2026: New exchange sets out to modernise commodity derivatives by aligning them to physical markets
AI project of the year: SOCAR Türkiye
Energy Risk Awards 2026: Risk team harnesses AI to transform RCSA into a scalable, sustainable and internally owned capability
Data, cyber and model risk top IT concerns for risk managers: survey
Energy Risk software survey reveals risk managers’ tech pain points and plans
Energy Risk Debates: the Iran conflict and the widening mandate of the risk manager
Panellists discuss the impact of the Middle East crisis so far on risk teams and the drive towards enterprise risk management
Abaxx: meeting the need for new commodity derivatives
Abaxx revamps commodity hedging with a suite of modern contracts
Tokenised commodities could help oil the machine
Shifting physical assets onto the blockchain eases collateral frictions, argues crypto expert