Energy transition
Hedge fund case tests Ferc's anti-manipulation drive
A US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission probe into a little-known energy hedge fund has turned into an unusual public standoff. Now, the fund's founders are girding themselves for a long legal battle, which may set an important precedent for US energy…
Dealing with stressed contracts in the energy sector
The recent collapse of crude oil prices is inevitably putting many contracts in the energy sector under strain. Ashley Wright and Richard Steenhof of Norton Rose Fulbright explore the legal options available to energy companies that need to manage the…
CFTC sent special calls by mistake, Giancarlo says
Hundreds of special call letters were sent to end-users of over-the-counter derivatives in error, CFTC commissioner Chris Giancarlo says
Oil collapse fails to dent zeal for hub-based gas pricing
In recent years, European buyers of natural gas have pushed strongly in favour of contract pricing based on the continent's gas hubs, rather than more traditional formulas linked to the price of oil. Given the huge drop in crude prices, has this stance…
Financial trading worsened oil plunge – Risk.net poll
Most respondents to a recent Risk.net poll say paper trading had some impact on the recent decline in crude oil prices, but disagree about how much
Icap Energy’s Francis wrestles with regulatory change
Icap Energy's new head of energy and commodities in Europe faced tough decisions in his first few months of the job
Anatomy of a model: Valuation of physical assets
This paper dissects the layers of valuation models for physical assets. While their joint functioning is crucial, the integrity of the layers is not always well understood. Rossen Roussev warns of the trend to over-engineer the parts and mis-model the…
Risk and Energy Risk Commodity Rankings 2015 photos
Winners of the 2015 Risk and Energy Risk Commodity Rankings were honoured on February 19 at a champagne reception in London’s West End. Energy Risk offers a sneak peek
IEA, IEF and Opec probe role of markets in oil crash
The impact of US shale oil, financial speculation and bank commodity exits was high on the agenda at a joint meeting held by the IEA, IEF and Opec in Vienna
Oil indexation battle continues despite oil collapse
Europe’s utilities are still pushing for hub-based natural gas prices amid the recent collapse of crude oil
Bank and investor exodus worsened oil rout, traders say
The role of financial trading in the recent collapse of crude oil has added a new twist to the old debate over the impact of speculation on commodity markets. Did retreating index investors, short-selling momentum traders and risk-averse banks exacerbate…
EU commodity position limits prove tricky to hammer out
EU regulators are working on plans to implement commodity derivatives position limits under Mifid II. But their latest proposals have been criticised by energy firms, which point to questions over issues such as hedging exemptions and where the limits…
Rolling back the frontiers
Dr Igor Koprivnikar, member of energy trading and supply group Gen-i’s management board responsible for trading, talks exclusively to Energy Risk
Right-way risk can create a false sense of security
Dealers typically find comfort in right-way correlations between their exposure to energy sector counterparties and the creditworthiness of such companies. While this reasoning is unquestionably correct, it may create a false sense of security, writes…
Vitol veteran Preston joins energy brokerage
Cornerstone Global Commodities builds its new commodity financing business with addition of Vitol’s Africa business development head
EU commodity position limits too cumbersome, firms say
Firms argue that EU commodity derivatives position limit proposals under Mifid II are bad for end-users and the energy market
Power capacity mechanisms worry EU electricity traders
Power traders are concerned that a growth of interest in capacity mechanisms could threaten the potency of traded electricity markets across the European Union, while disrupting plans to forge a unified internal energy market
UK power grid needs investment to keep lights on in future
The lights stayed on in the UK last winter, despite thin supply margins and outages at important base-load power plants. But the country’s capacity crunch isn’t going away, and utilities will have to work harder to optimise their output in future, argues…
Energy firms hammer CFTC over position limits rule
The bona fide hedge exemptions in the CFTC's proposed position limits rule have come under attack from energy companies
Energy Risk Software Rankings 2015
Energy Risk conducted a survey in which it asked energy trading firms to nominate their top ETRM vendors, implementation specialists, data vendors and data managers during December 2014 and January 2015. We present the top ranked firms below
Quant ideas: Building a better LNG forward curve
A robust suite of liquefied natural gas (LNG) forward curves is an important prerequisite for the proper valuation and risk measurement of LNG portfolios. This article provides an overview of effective methods for constructing long-term LNG forward price…
BP’s Alvarez reflects on oil spills and other challenges
Orlando Alvarez, president and chief executive of BP Energy Company, reflects on oil spills and other challenges of running a large trading organisation
CFTC reveals members of rebooted energy committee
Koch eyes global expansion; Mercuria names Good CFO; BTG Pactual suffers departures; Trafigura hires CFO in Houston; Quantum CEO moves on; Birol picked for top IEA job
Energy stirs political passions around the globe
The politics of energy are just as fascinating as the physical processes behind it, and are rarely subtle