Market risk
March 2006 - Relations with Russia revisited
As Europe becomes more dependent on Russia for oil and gas supplies, it endeavours to maintain good relations with Moscow, while at the same time looking for alternative ways of securing fuel
Leading the energy software revolution
The ETRM software industry is enjoying a long-awaited boom, meaning exciting developments are in store for energy trading and risk management, writes Stella Farrington
The rise of mechanistic hedging
Utility hedging gains wider acceptance, but companies still need to work harder to eliminate pure price-view hedging, writes Leigh Parkinson of RiskAdvisory
March 2006 - Riding the rollercoaster
US natural gas prices have proven to be susceptible to weather-related price swings. Andy Weissman looks at what a risk manager should consider when designing a price risk management program
CME eyes energy market
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange plans to launch energy futures contracts once its non-competitive agreement with the New York Mercantile Exchange expires this summer.
E.ON bids $35 bn for Endesa
German power and gas company E.ON has announced a $35 billion (29.1 billion euro) bid for Spain’s largest power company Endesa.
Spectron brokers first UK dark spread
The first brokered UK dark spread has been traded through UK-headquartered brokerage Spectron. The trade, between Sempra and Scottish Power was a Summer ‘06 deal, representing 5,000 tonnes of coal (API#2) versus 15 MW of electricity. It is understood to…
Nymex’s side-by-side trading seen as deathknell to floor
The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) will introduce side-by-side electronic and open-outcry trading in its physically settled energy futures contracts in the second quarter of 2006.
SGX and CBOT to partner on commodities
The Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) will launch a joint commodities derivative exchange early this year, marking a step towards fulfilling SGX's strategy to be an Asian gateway. Joe Marsh reports
A comeback for coal
With gas prices soaring, it seems inevitable that coal - the Cinderella of energy resources - is bound to return to the forefront. But how long will it last? asks Eric Fishnaut
Commodities Count 2006
The recent swell in energy market participants means the battle for dominance has never been fiercer, but the increased competition means ever-more sophisticated product offerings, finds Stella Farrington
At the flick of a switch
Jesper Andreasen and Martin Dahlgren present a regime-switching model for electricity derivatives that incorporates spiky spot-price dynamics and allows for closed-form pricing of forwards, options and swaptions
Questioning dollar cost averaging
When implementing a hedging strategy, the popular dollar cost averaging approach may sometimes be less prudent than the lump-sum method for managing energy risk, writes Tim Simard
Correlation - The energy price factor
Navneet Arora provides empirical evidence that significant correlations exist between the movements of commodity prices and the credit quality of firms in the energy sector
In defence of Gazprom
The Russian gas giant's recent price dispute with Ukraine has not given it the best start to the year, but the cat calls of political bullying are not deterring Gazprom's European customers, writes Oliver Holtaway
Ice Futures to launch WTI contract
Ice Futures will launch a cash-settled West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light sweet crude oil futures contract on February 3. The contract will be automatically available to all users with access to Ice Futures oil contracts.
FPL/Constellation merger could be tip of iceberg
High gas prices look set to usher in a wave of fresh consolidation in the utility sector, as companies strive to save costs
Possible CME move for Nymex muddies the waters
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange's potential bid for a stake in the New York Mercantile Exchange could further heighten tensions at Nymex over the agreed deal with General Atlantic. That's if the CME comes up with a concrete proposal