Oil
Oil & products house of the year: Citi
The US bank has assisted oil producers and airlines whiplashed by crashing prices
Risk manager of the year (corporate): Qantas Airways
Smart risk management helped push Qantas back into the black in 2014
Risk manager of the year (sovereign): Mexico’s Ministry of Finance and Public Credit
Oil hedging stabilises Mexican state finances amid price crash
Derivatives house of the year: Citi
Bank wins with help of book purchases and willingness to take on trickier trades
Energy scarcity warrants tough response to market abuse
Market manipulation is a problem that is controversial and tricky to define, but it must be taken seriously. That is particularly true in energy markets, where the optimal allocation of resources is more important than ever, argues industry veteran…
Flood of oil ETF investors reshaping market, analysts say
Investors stampeded into exchange-traded funds tied to crude oil futures in early 2015. Analysts say the huge inflows halted the plunge in oil prices, at least temporarily, and enabled significant producer hedging. But not everyone agrees
EU commodity trading firms face capital punishment
Imposing CRD IV capital rules on trading houses, utilities and oil majors carries huge costs and makes no sense
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…
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
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
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…
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
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
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
Oil rout roils E&P and airline hedging strategies
Corporate risk management programmes have had a mixed track record amid the recent plunge in crude prices. Oil producers with a conservative approach to hedging are emerging as some of the winners, while some airlines are feeling regretful about their…
Oil dive increases importance of trading, says Statoil
Asset-based trading seen as crucial by Statoil in environment of lower oil prices
Cutting edge: Kriging smooth energy futures curves
This paper applies the method of kriging from geostatistics to extract smooth curves from energy futures prices. How the method can interpolate market prices is demonstrated, both for contracts with fixed delivery times and for delivery over a period,…
Energy Risk Awards 2015 now open for entries
Awards recognise excellence across global commodities market
Dodd-Frank reporting lets traders prey on hedgers
The US Dodd-Frank Act has foisted transparency on derivatives markets by requiring the public reporting of over-the-counter trades. But some end-users are crying foul, as the new rules cast a spotlight on the once-hidden execution of their hedging…
Oil prices collapse: assessing the ‘known unknowns’
Predicting the future for oil prices is a losing game due to the complexity of the market. But some pieces of critical information are often widely missed, argues Vincent Kaminski, including several potential risks to firms associated with North American…
Pemex ramps up risk management amid energy reform
Mexico's energy reform is leading state-owned oil and gas giant Petróleos Mexicanos to boost its risk management activities and consider new strategies for commodity hedging
Oil slump expected to lure investors back to commodities
Return of volatility in crude oil prices creates trading opportunities for hedge funds, market participants say