Market risk
Utilities renegotiate to survive
For the past 10 years, Argentina’s privatised utilities have been icons of successful energy sector reform. But with the country’s deepening crisis, they face increased difficulties. What can investors do to mitigate such risks, asks Maria Kielmas
Mixed signals from the east
Flaws in Poland’s electricity regime have crippled Warsaw’s two-year-old power exchange. But Slovenia’s power exchange is faring rather better. Peter Joy reports
A cure for Enron flu
Brett Humphreys discusses recent events in the energy sector and the role risk managers can play in improving the industry
Worth waiting for?
Just over a year on from the delayed launch of the UK’s new electricity trading arrangements, prices have dropped to new lows. But just how low can generators go, asks Joel Hanley
Storing up the gains?
Natural gas prices are climbing again, and energy companies are reacting by putting in place new hedges, as Kevin Foster discovers
Enron’s online after-effects
Recent highly visible events in the US, including the Enron failure, the California electricity crisis and market power rulings by the government have all created considerable tumult and uncertainty, which are bound to have repercussions
Keeping score
This month Brett Humphreys and Zach Jonasson show how energy trading firms can compare performance using publicly available corporate information
Banks take shelter in derivatives
While some banks have found the weather derivatives market a non-starter, others are doing deals worth more than $100 million. Eurof Thomas reports
A smooth handover?
A change in the way weekly natural gas storage figures are reported is proceeding fairly smoothly – but it may still cause price swings, as Kevin Foster discovers
Quantifying technical analysis
In the last of our series of tutorials on risk management tools, Richard Weissman provides an overview of technical analysis for the energy business
At the end of the tail
When fat tails are present, extreme value theory provides a framework for estimating value-at-risk at higher confidence levels with greater accuracy than traditional Var methods. Naveen Andrews and Mark Thomas explain
Building blocks for complex probability distributions
Brett Humphreys demonstrates how to construct more accurate return distributions and use them to price options
Stand-off over hub plans
German firms Ruhrgas and BEB Erdgas & Erdöl and Norway’s Statoil say they want to work with Gasunie on developing the northwest European natural gas trading hub. Gasunie is making similar noises. So why the separate plans, asks Peter Joy
Dealing with price risk
FAME Information Services outlines the main issues currently affecting power prices and looks at how companies should be covering themselves against the risks posed by the continuing process of deregulation
Pause for thought?
Electricity deregulation in Ontario promises to avoid the price hikes and power shortages seen in some markets. So why are end-users unhappy? Kevin Foster reports
Navigating a troubled road
Don Stowers finds the online energy trading market place as competitive as ever, with several new platforms ready to enter the fray