Feature
South Korea hedges its bets
Corporate hedging of energy and commodity price risk in South Korea used to be the purview of a handful of large conglomerates. But a recent change in regulation has opened up the door to a whole new tier of potential hedgers. Local banks are now teaming…
Stora Enso
The Scandinavian paper maker has found that having its own generation assets can be an effective hedge against rising and volatile power prices
Tentative decisions
Private equity has shied away from investment in energy assets in the past. But as Ian Bagshaw and Charles Jacobs, partners at Linklaters, explain, some players are now starting to show an interest
Weighing up the options
Mounting domestic environmental issues and worldwide energy security uncertainty are pushing the Chinese government to consider the full gamut of energy options – including renewables. Yue Zhang and Chong Siang Chew of the Institute of Energy Economics,…
Weathering risk
Earlier this year, Storm Exchange unveiled its electronic weather exchange, based on 500 proprietary, industry-specific weather indexes serving the over-the-counter markets. David Watkins speaks to David Riker, Storm's president and chief executive,…
AstraZeneca
Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has restructured its supply contracts towards a more flexible model
Tales from the sell side
Asia, and in particular China and India, represents the largest source of project-related emissions reduction credits going into the UN's Clean Development Mechanism system. Oliver Holtaway speaks to Asia Carbon Exchange's N Yuvaraj Dinesh Babu about the…
Rethinking US liberalisation
Citing rising electricity prices, critics of liberalisation have recently managed to convince lawmakers in several US states to rethink policies that ban utilities from owning power plants. Elisa Wood investigates the current state of play
Going with the flow
The competitive edge that physical natural gas players have historically enjoyed is being eroded by advances in information flows. Vincent Kaminski and Russell Braziel discuss their study, which suggests new information flows have transformed natural gas…
Accessing China's oil market
China's wholesale oil market is opening up to foreign investment and several western oil majors are making inroads. But many regulatory obstacles remain, as Lauren Hilgers reports
A spreading collapse?
The unbridled optimism that spurred the ethanol market upwards in 2006 has been replaced by a more sombre mood. David Watkins reports
Adelaide Brighton
Volatility in the Australian power market has forced the cement manufacturer to employ some innovative risk management and asset optimisation solutions
The one that gets away
Managing volumetric risk is exceedingly challenging, yet getting it wrong can damage a company's reputation and make it look as though it is not in control of its operations. Garth Renne and Ken Truesdell of Brookfield Power suggest some solutions
Lufthansa
The German airline group stresses strong communication between those handling the physical and financial sides of the business as paramount to energy price risk management
Renewed interest
Green certificate trading is growing in Europe, as renewable power generators seek to exploit consumer demand for green energy. But market design could be improved, as Oliver Holtaway reports
Full steam ahead for FFAs
The freight derivatives market has attracted an influx of new players recently thanks to the spread of clearing. With more banks and hedge funds poised to enter, Roderick Bruce looks at what opportunities the market offers and how it needs to develop next
Up in the air
Rising wind power prices are encouraging US producers to turn to the short-term and spot electricity markets. Increasingly sophisticated risk management techniques may follow. David Watkins reports
Profit and loss explained
Profit and loss explained analysis and reporting has become arequired tool for the middle and front office. Brian Shydlo investigates
Operating optimally
The increase in energy trading in recent years has brought significant opportunities but also a rise in operational risk, leaving systems struggling to keep up. Barney Brown at Detica identifies some areas of operational risk deriving from both internal…
Energy Risk in Asia
Last month risk management professionals from all over the Asia-Pacific region gathered in Singapore for the inaugural Energy Risk Asia conference. Oliver Holtaway reports on some of the highlights
The net widens
Grid computing is ubiquitous in investment banking, yet until now the energy trading and risk management space has been slow on the uptake. This looks set to change, reports David Watkins
Drought damage down under
The current drought in Australia has driven power prices to recordhighs. Early-June storms brought increased volatility and makinghedging even trickier for all market participation. Joe Marsh reports