News
China Aviation Oil chief arrested
Chen Jiulin, the suspended chief executive of China Aviation Oil, has been arrested on his return to Singapore early Wednesday as investigations begin into the company’s huge trading losses.
CMS Energy to sell $200m of convertible senior notes
CMS Energy intends to offer for sale $200 million of convertible senior notes due on December 1, 2024, but would not reveal the rate of interest they will pay.
BarCap launches commodity-linked credit product
Fixed-income investors can now make use of a credit instrument that provides access to commodities as an asset class, says Barclays Capital. The investment bank has launched Apollo, a collateralised commodity obligation (CCO), which uses derivatives…
Mirant settles price-reporting charges
A subsidiary of Atlanta-based energy company Mirant has settled charges with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of false reporting of natural gas prices. The commission found that Mirant Americas Energy Marketing (MAEM) traders made false…
China Aviation Oil hid US$390m derivative loss in struggle to survive
China Aviation Oil’s trading unit, China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corp (CAOSCO) hid an initial US$390 million loss while its directors sought “white knights” to save it from liquidation, it emerged yesterday as the company announced an estimated US$550…
London to be world carbon market centre
The UK’s early move into carbon emissions trading means London is now well placed to become a world centre for the emerging carbon market, UK Environment Minister Elliot Morley said Wednesday.
Dominion buys 310MW plant from Dynegy and NRG
Dominion Virginia Power, the power utility subsidiary of Dominion, today completed the purchase of the 310-megawatt Commonwealth power plant in Chesapeake, Virginia. The move is consistent with its aim of reducing the cost of long-term power purchase…
Saudi to up oil output to 12.5 million b/d
Saudi Arabia’s total oil production capacity is now at 11 million barrels a day (b/d) and plans are in place to increase it to 12.5 million b/d, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Mr Ali Al-Naimi, said Monday.
CFTC allows US firms to trade on EEX
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has permitted US companies to trade power derivatives on the European Energy Exchange with immediate effect, EEX said Thursday.
Static emissions price “does not reflect fundamentals”
The European emissions trading market, with its static price over the last four to five weeks, “is not a good market,” and does not reflect fundamentals, said Chris Rowland, managing director of utilities research at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.
Energy users demand trading oversight
The debate continues over whether speculative traders are distorting energy prices, following a letter sent by the Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA) to Congress last week. “Energy markets have changed drastically, and regulatory oversight,…
EEX to launch spot carbon contract
German-based electronic exchange European Energy Exchange (EEX) is to launch a spot contract to trade EU carbon emissions allowances in January 2005.
Energy traders urged to pre-register for risk poll
Energy traders wishing to take part in Energy Risk/Risk’s 12th annual Commodity Rankings can now pre-register to vote to avoid missing important voter updates and deadlines in the magazines’ annual survey of the energy business.
Chicago Climate Exchange approved to trade futures
The Chicago Climate Futures Exchange (CCFE) obtained approval from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last week to trade emissions futures contracts.
BNP beefs up energy team
BNP Paribas has expanded its energy derivatives team in London with four significant hires.
IPE members approved to trade on Ice OTC markets
The International Petroleum Exchange’s (IPE) registered brokers and local traders can now trade on IntercontinentalExchange’s (Ice) over-the-counter markets for their own accounts.
BP pays $100,000 to settle wash trading charges
The energy round-trip trading scandal continues to rumble on, as BP America today paid $100,000 to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to settle charges of illegal wash trading. A wash or round-trip trade is one that produces neither a…
California ISO gets tough on generators with new software
Power suppliers in California will face financial penalties if they deviate from pre-specified generation levels as of December 1. This is one of the main changes brought in by a new software system implemented by the California independent system…
Dynegy to buy Sithe Energies from Exelon
Dynegy is set to reduce the effect of some of its loss-making tolling and financial swap contracts, buy power plants in the northeast US and acquire a supply agreement to increase stable cashflow and service debt.
Gazprom completes Rosneft merger, appoints head of new company
Sergei Bogdanchikov will retain his job as chief executive of Gazpromneft, the new company formed yesterday by the merger of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and state oil company Rosneft. He was previously head of Rosneft.
Merrill Lynch completes Entergy-Koch takeover
Investment bank Merrill Lynch today completed its acquisition of Entergy-Koch Trading (EKT), a venture of New Orleans-based energy company Entergy Corp and Kansas-based Koch Industries (see Energy Risk , October 2004, p.6).
Nymex to launch two new coal swap futures
The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) will launch two new coal futures contracts – one for eastern coal and one for western coal – on its ClearPort trading platform on October 31.