Market risk
Reliably informed
Pat Wood, chairman of US interstate energy regulator the Federal Energy RegulatoryCommission, talks to James Ockenden about reliability, regulation, and wherenext for the competitive market in the US
Isda raises Basel-linked concerns
Bankers have been preparing for the implementation of the Basel II Capital Accordfor a number of years. But Isda says that it is still concerned about the effectthe Accord may have on the commodities markets. By Paul Lyon
ESB wins Esso price battle
Esso and Ireland’s Electricity Supply Board entered into a seemingly straightforward15-year contract for the sale and purchase of natural gas in 1999. But the contracthas raised the issue of how to define ‘market price’. By James Ockenden
The right charge
Savvy firms now accept risk is inevitable. Those that use their risk capitalefficiently outperform those that don’t. Brett Humphreys looks at alternativeinvestments to find out what the right risk-adjusted return on capital chargesmight be
Energia selects SunGard’s Entegrate ZaiNet
Energia, part of the Viridian Group, has selected SunGard’s Entegrate ZaiNet for the straight-through processing and risk management of its physical and financial power and gas contracts.
Dollar distress
Scottish Power has announced a £400 million cash windfall through its currencyhedging programme. Others have not been so lucky – but everyone is nowwaking up to currency trading. By James Ockenden
The matrix
Abstract: Portfolio-wide risk management requires a model that accounts correctlyfor the volatility of, and the correlations between electricity forward products.In this paper Kjersti Aas and KjetilK°aresen discuss a joint model for electricityforward…
Crude protection
Oil producers are divided over the value of hedging oil prices. Are investorslooking for high returns and high risk, or more stable revenues? And how muchdoes hedging actually boost an oil producer’s value? By Joe Marsh
Using a square peg
Hedging load exposures is a complex issue, and plumping for hedging the expectedvolume is unlikely to be the best solution. Brett Humphreys and RahulGill showthat sometimes, the best hedge of a shaped position is an over-hedge
ESB wins Esso price battle
A high court judge has rejected claims by Esso it should be allowed to raise the price of gas supplied to Ireland’s Electricity Supply Board (ESB) on the basis of prices reported in the Heren Report .
Skating on thin Ice
Profits at the Intercontinental Exchange fell by more than half last year thanksto a contraction in over-the-counter revenues. Yet the exchange reports recordvolumes for its IPE business. Paul Lyon analyses the results
A fertile future
The CME is hoping its introduction of fertiliser futures will protect the industryfrom fluctuations in the price of natural gas – a vital ingredient in mostnitrogen fertilisers. But is it a case of too little too late? By Paul Lyon
Trading places
Canada’s energy landscape is being reshaped. The NGX has changed handsand looks set to expand. Meanwhile, an Ontario government report warns more workneeds to be done to secure future power supplies. By Paul Lyon
Louise Kitchen
Growth potential is what makes Louise Kitchen tick, and she relishes the chanceto build up UBS’s energy trading team. By James Ockenden
New clearing system for Nordic market
Nord Pool Clearing, the clearing organization for the Nordic power exchange Nord Pool, has launched a new clearing system for the electricity derivative market. OM Technology is the system provider.
De Vitry elected to Isda board
Benoit de Vitry, London-based global head of commodities and emerging markets rates at Barclays Capital, has been elected to the board of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (Isda).
Welcome to the Energy Risk awards 2004
The fourth annual Energy Risk awards recognise excellence and innovation in the field of risk management. And to mark the ever-changing face of the industry, Energy Risk has added three new awards this year.
RMS releases updated Climetrix weather trading system
Risk Management Solutions (RMS), a California-based provider of products and services for the management of natural hazard risk, today released version 4.0 of its Climetrix weather derivatives trading and risk management system.
A fact of life?
Can the price risks associated with abnormally cold winter temperatures and theirimpact on short term energy demand be predicted ahead of time? Logical InformationMachines’ Sandy Fielden investigates recent freezing temperatures in Boston,Massachusetts
String theory
Abstract: The complete understanding of forward price dynamics is a fundamentaltopic in commodity markets, and there have been many studies on the relationshipbetween spot and forward commodity prices. Here, GiorgioCabibbo and StefanoFiorenzani offer a…