Operational risk
Trafigura paper reignites debate on systemic risk
Commodity trading houses "are not too big to fail" argues white paper published by Trafigura, attracting mixed views from market observers
Derivatives trading rises in North American regional crudes
As North American crude oil production surges, liquid financial markets are developing around grades such as Louisiana Light Sweet, Western Canadian Select, Mars and Midland, changing the behaviour of both physical hedgers and financial traders…
Banks counter Fed worries on physical commodities
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley stress public benefits of allowing banks to trade physical commodities, while downplaying fears of catastrophic risk
Energy market has bright future, despite bad news
Energy risk management has come a long way and is serving up unparalleled opportunities, despite poor liquidity and a retreat by banks
Citi hires Morgan Stanley oil veteran Randall O’Connor
Head of strategic transactions quits to join Citi as Morgan Stanley pulls back from physical oil trading
Senior commodities salesman quits JP Morgan
David Samuels exits JP Morgan amid commodities shake-up and sale of physical business to Mercuria
OIES trying to fuel debate on energy markets, says Fattouh
Unlike other research houses, the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies does not toe a single editorial line and occasionally publishes opposing views on the same topic. But far from being a drawback, that is what makes the institute great, argues…
Banks tussle to join next generation of commodity dealers
Facing low volatility, a lack of trading opportunities and compliance headaches, major global investment banks are pulling back from commodities. But at the same time, a number of smaller and regional players are actively seeking to increase their…
CFTC upping enforcement effort, warns former chief
David Meister, former director of enforcement at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, speaks exclusively to Alexander Osipovich about market manipulation, high-frequency trading and the value of Dodd-Frank reporting rules for financial watchdogs
Dynegy founder Watson recalls dawn of deregulation
Dynegy founder Chuck Watson talks to Alexander Osipovich about the dawn of deregulation, the fall of Enron and what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur
2014 Risk & Energy Risk Commodity Rankings photos
The top firms in this year’s Risk and Energy Risk Commodity Rankings were honoured at a champagne reception in London on February 25. We showcase the winners
There is plenty of life left in US natural gas
Sluggish prices and low volatility have provided US natural gas traders with few opportunities for trading profits in recent years. But as the past winter shows, it’s too early for them to switch off their computers and retire to the golf course, writes…
Looking back: oil market's future is different from its past
By 1994, the oil industry had changed irrevocably due to the increased use of derivatives – a trend that was discussed by Edward Krapels in an article for Energy Risk in June that year
UK power market licence changes ‘no silver bullet’
Ofgem’s moves to increase electricity market liquidity for small suppliers are a step in the right direction, but more must be done, argue market participants
Energy firms beg CFTC for clarity on commodity options
Utilities, oil producers and trading firms are urging the CFTC to issue clarification on contracts with embedded volumetric optionality
Power market coupling could spur derivatives activity
Market coupling may result in greater derivatives use and falling participation in both explicit auctions and physical nominations, survey finds
Firms expect power market coupling to have tangible impact
The process of power market coupling is continuing across Europe, with the largest and most ambitious project to date going live in February. But how do market participants feel about market coupling and how it will affect their businesses? Stella…
Conference highlights questions over Remit implementation
Problems encountered by Emir demonstrate issues that need to be solved before Remit reporting begins, argue attendees at Energy Risk Italia
Applied risk management series: Active VAR management
In this article, Carlos Blanco introduces a set of tools to assist traders and risk managers in actively managing the value-at-risk of energy derivatives portfolios
CFTC no-action letter could end public utilities' hedging woes
CFTC exempts ‘utility operations-related swaps’ from contributing towards $25 million special entity threshold under Dodd-Frank
Commodity trading houses have banks on the ropes: so what?
Commodity trading houses may well be the new market heavyweights. But contrary to arguments made by bankers, that isn’t necessarily a problem
Polar vortex revives interest in gas and power hedging
A brutally cold winter in the eastern US has roiled natural gas and power markets and shocked energy consumers that had grown accustomed to cheap, abundant shale gas. Such firms are now hedging more actively, Alexander Osipovich finds
Gulf War and supercycle are career highlights, says Saperia
Since Nigel Saperia first began working as an oil trader at Shell in 1976, the business of trading oil has been transformed. He speaks to Mark Pengelly
Energy Risk marks 20 years of covering energy markets
Energy Risk was first published back in February 1994. Since then, its fortunes have risen and fallen with those of the wider energy risk management industry. Mark Pengelly reflects on the highs and lows of the first 20 years