Feature
The prepay delay
Municipal natural gas prepayment deals withered in the second half of 2007 as a result of the credit crisis. While this year has seen a trickle of new deals, greater problems may be lurking. David Watkins reports
Waiting in the wings
The long-mooted inclusion of the aviation sector in the European Union's emissions trading scheme is finally on the radar screen. Roderick Bruce discovers whether stakeholders are ready for take off
FFAs: rocking the boat?
The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) plumbed the depths in early 2008, sinking from record highs in late 2007. Some have blamed derivatives market activity for the sharp fall. Roderick Bruce casts a beady eye over the BDI and asks where prices are heading next
Powerful fusions
Europe’s power exchanges arebecoming increasingly connected asnational transmission grids link up.Roderick Bruce looks at the effect thiswill have on electricity trading
Swing contracts – take it or leave it?
Gas swing contracts are well established, but it is only recently thattechniques have been developed to measure and capture the value intheir flexibility. John Breslin, Les Clewlow, Chris Strickland and Daniel vander Zee of Lacima Group discuss these…
Out of Africa
Nigeria, Libya and Algeria between them produce around 7% of theworld’s oil, a figure that is only expected to grow. With global oil suppliestight, what happens in these, sometimes unstable, oil-producing countrieswill impact heavily on global oil…
Energy efficiency
Energy efficiency is fast becoming a resource and a business in its ownright. This month’s special report takes an in-depth look at some of theadvances, challenges and opposition to this growing market
Commodity Rankings 2008
A continued growth in participants, as well as a range of newly identified emerging markets are clearly evidenced in this year’s Commodity Rankings, writes Andrew Holt
The business of saying no
Rising energy prices have caused an upturn in demand response - or energy curtailment - in the last two years. Elisa Wood looks at how this is impacting power markets
Less is more
Utilities are leading the chorus for greater energy efficiency in the US. But, as David Watkins discovers, their drive to secure profits while selling less power is proving to be a major regulatory challenge
Marking to the wrong model
Brett Humphreys and Sarbo Saha show how calibration can reduce model risk but may mislead us into thinking an inappropriate model is working
Green backing
The financing of renewable energy projects is becoming more attractive, as rising demand and prices make it a safer investment. The subprime crisis will tip the balance further in favour of green investment and open up opportunities for end-users to…
Tready and tradable
Implementing a new energy trading and risk management system can be complicated, but the difficulty of preparing the entire business for change is often underestimated, say Michael Campbell, Cynthia Sepety and Dutch Holland of management consultancy…
Currency correlations
While oil prices have been rising, the US dollar has staged a steady decline, leading to much speculation over the linkage between the two. Eric Fishhaut investigates their connection
A force to be reconciled with
Reconciling portfolio valuation differences between energy risk management software packages is a crucial task both in system replacements and upgrades. Brian Shydlo of Sirius Solutions introduces the concepts and techniques associated with this activity
Mercurial talents
Led by oil traders Marco Dunand and Daniel Jaeggi, Mercuria Energy Group's turnover has grown fivefold in only three years. Roderick Bruce talks to Dunand, Mercuria's head of global trading, about the company's rapid expansion and its plans for 2008 and…
Transmission possible?
US grid operators are hoping that a new stance on transmission planning will act as a hedge against an uncertain energy future. Yet such a strategy comes with its own challenges, writes Elisa Wood
The globalisation of gas
Change could be afoot for the US natural gas market as US imports of LNG grow. Neil O’Hara looks at the short- to medium-term price drivers for US natural gas