November 2007
Notes
Patsy Wurster
Welcome to the 2008 Global Energy Outlook issue of Platts Insight. Now in its fourth year, Platts' annual energy outlook has become one of the industry's must-read publications for preparing for the future. This issue reaches more than 30,000 industry professionals and financiers world-wide. The 2008 Global Energy Outlook again gives you critical insight from the industry's most trusted information source, Platts. Read More
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Margaret L. Ryan Editorial Director, Platts Global Nuclear & Coal
Sustainability is the looming question that 2007 is bequeathing to 2008: Can the economic growth occurring in Asia be sustained, and built on? Or will its burden on world energy supply, and/or the environment, become unsustainable, collapse, and lead instead to worldwide recession? Read More
Larry Chorn, responsible for energy forecasting and quantitative analysis activities, joined Platts in 2006 from the Colorado School of Mines, where he was associate professor of petroleum engineering and director of the Center for Petroleum Supply Studies. He spent 25 years in the global oil and gas business, including independent valuation and risk consultant work. He holds a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and an MBA in finance and strategy from Southern Methodist University. Read More
John Kingston, Global Director, Platts Oil
Crude benchmark idiosyncracies, globally varying refining risks, shifting supply patterns, ethanol and currency markets that dance to their own tunesthe oil markets don't lack for signals, but discerning where they are pointing won't be easy. Read More
William Powell, Editor, Platts International Gas Report
Demand is growing worldwide for clean-burning natural gas, as Western supplies are being drawn down and new reserves found in distant parts of the globe. Technology like pipelines and LNG is available, but can the established market and political structures respondand at what price? Read More
David Hanna, Global Director, and Ihsan Rahim, US Managing Editor, Platts Petrochemicals
Relentless cost pressures and a changing market landscape are hitting petrochemical companies' bottom lines. Aggressive companies are on a buying spree that reflects shifting global demand patterns. Read More
James O'Connell, Managing Editor, Platts International Coal
The wild ride of 2007 coal and freight prices doesn't show any signs of abating as 2008 nears, leaving consumers coping with historic high costsexcept in the US. Read More
David R. Jones, Editor, Platts Renewable Energy Markets
The renewable energy industry, long the domain of small- to medium-sized companies peddling specialized technologies and developing small plants, has become a favorite target for acquisitions by utility giants, oil companies, and nuclear vendors. Wind energy was the first target; is solar power next? Read More
Ross McCracken, Editor, Platts Energy Economist
The world's power industry is on the cusp of a new investment cycle, but faces a minefield of risk. Market experiments, environmental and supply security concerns, and a revolution in technology have created an investment environment beset by uncertainty. Read More
David Stellfox, Senior Editor, Platts Global Nuclear
A global nuclear construction boom is likely to keep the pressure on already tight uranium supplies. The market is responding with new mine projects, higher commodity prices, and new financial products, but will the supply meet the demand? Read More
Mike Davis, Global Director, Platts Risk Management
Commodity investments are gaining new respect as investors discover they hedge inflation and perform at their relative best exactly when stock and bond markets are most vulnerable. Read More
Alessandro Vitelli, Managing Editor, Platts Emissions
The Kyoto Protocol's five-year compliance period begins in 2008. Industrialized nations around the world have pledged to cut carbon emissions, but the job seems to get harder, not easier, as 2008 approaches. Can market mechanisms make the crucial difference? Read More
Swami Venkataraman, Director, Corporate and Government Ratings, Standard & Poor's
The energy industry is bracing for a carbon-constrained world, but the ways governments choose to control carbon around the globe may have vastly different impacts on company bottom lines. Read More
Larry G. Chorn, PhD, Platts Chief Energy Economist
Energy is indispensable for economic growth in the 21st century, but as more nations develop, competition for those resouces is intensifying. Can the US ensure access to energy resources as exporting nations vigorously assert their interests and developing nations leap into the fray? Read More
Neil Fleming
2007 Platts Top 250 Global Energy Companies in focus Read More
On behalf of Capgemini and my thousands of colleagues across the world, I heartily congratulate the finalists of the 2007 Platts Global Energy Awards. Read More
AES ANDRES is one of the companies owned by the AES Dominicana group. Since 1997 AES has invested more than 800 million dollars in the Dominican Republic, mainly through a single equity interest in Dominican Power Partners and AES ANDRES and with a 50% interest in ITABO, S.A., where AES is a strategic partner of the Dominican State. Read More
American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation's largest generators of electricity, owning more than 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation's largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP's transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP's utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia, West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP's headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. Read More
In 2004 the Federal Government set a new model for the Brazilian Electricity Sector and defined the creation of two energy trading markets: a Regulated Contracting Environment (RCE) where a pool of distributors buys power from generators in public auctions and a Free Contracting Environment (FCE) where free consumers, traders and generators can freely negotiate their contracts. Read More
Chesapeake Energy Corporation is the most active driller and third-largest producer of natural gas in the U.S. The Oklahoma City-based company focuses on exploratory and developmental drilling onshore in the U.S. With interests in 37,000 producing wells and an estimated 11 trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent (tcfe) proved reserves, Chesapeake is noted for technological innovation, financial achievement and its commitment to natural gas as America's best solution to the need for more energy and a cleaner environment. Read More
EMFESZ Ltd. was born of the recent liberalization of the European natural gas trade. The firm was chartered in 2003 upon opening of the national market to independent companies. EMFESZ started activities in September 2003, based on the capital stock of 552 million Hungarian Forint (currently about US$2.86 m). Read More
Energy Curtailment Specialists, Inc. (ECS) began as a two man operation in 2001 and has since evolved into the leading authority on demand response, having more than 80 employees and an unmatched advisory team dedicated to the cause. Several years ago, the State of California experienced numerous blackouts, causing havoc and chaos amongst its businesses and residents. While most of those in the energy field began to focus more generally on the causes of the California crisis, ECS cofounders Glen Smith and Stephen Lynch were in New York thinking of ways to help prevent this type of situation in the future, not only in California, but across all parts of the country. Read More
The people of FPL Group have a long history of safely providing reliable power while showing genuine concern for their communities and the environment. Read More
India in the year 2007 is 'young @ 60' and raring to go. The Indian economy maintained a high growth trajectory in 2006-07. Its growing integration with the global economy is reflected in the steady growth of exports, increasing foreign direct investment inflows, rising foreign exchange reserves, and a spate of major overseas acquisitions by Indian companies during the year. Taking note of the favorable investment climate, Standard & Poor's have upgraded India's rating from 'Speculative' to 'Investment'. India is also scoring well on other key indices such as global competitiveness, outsourcing services, external balance sheet and capital markets. India's largest commercial enterprise and the flagship national oil company, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IndianOil), has kept pace with country's growth through its sterling performance. Read More
Integrys Energy Group (NYSE: TEG) is a Fortune 500® energy holding company, formed with the February 2007 merger between WPS Resources Corp. and Peoples Energy Corp. The company's disciplined and prudent financial practices have resulted in strong credit ratings from Moody's and Standard & Poor's, as well as increased dividends to common stock shareholders for 49 consecutive years. Integrys Group's financial strength and operational excellence assure customers that as the volatile energy market continues to evolve, it will remain a trusted and reliable energy partner. Integrys Energy Group has been honored by Fortune magazine, which named it as one of the "Most Admired Energy Companies in America," the past two years in a row. Read More
OpenLink is a leading developer of front- to back-office, cross-market financial & physical trading, risk management, and operations processing software solutions. Endur, OpenLink's energy and commodity solution, covers a comprehensive list of instruments including electricity, natural gas and NGLs, crude oil and refined products, base and precious metals, coal, weather derivatives, emissions, soft commodities, and foreign exchange. Endur has become the solution of choice for clients who manage trading functions and risk management in the energy marketplace. OpenLink also offers Findur, its financial markets product that supports trading activities across multiple asset classes including money market, fixed income, equity, foreign exchange, commodities, and related derivatives. Findur is relied upon by some of the world's leading financial institutions including central banks, commercial/investment banks, hedge funds, pension funds, insurance companies, and corporate treasuries. Read More
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), led by its Chairman and Managing Director, Shri Mukesh D. Ambani, is India's largest private sector company on all major financial parameters with a sales turnover of US$27.23 billion, cash profit of US$4.07 billion, net profit of US$2.75 billion and net worth of US$14.72 billion as on March 31, 2007. Read More
S-OIL stands at the forefront of the oil refining industry in the Asia Pacific region Read More
Southern California Edison (SCE), an Edison International company, is the largest electric utility in California, serving more than 13 million people in a 50,000 square-mile area of central, coastal and southern California. Based in Rosemead, California, the utility has been providing electric service in the region for 120 years. SCE's service territory includes approximately 430 cities and communities and encompasses one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the nation. In keeping with its tradition of excellence, SCE has achieved national leadership positions in nearly a dozen distinct areas. These initiatives are just some of the ways in which SCE is leading the way in electricity. Read More
Sovcomflot operates one of the world's most modern and technologically advanced oil and gas tanker fleets, serving Russian and international customers. It provides an energy bridge between energy producing and consuming countries. Its customers include leading energy companies such as Rosneft, Chevron, Gazprom, BP, Exxon Mobil, Gas Natural, Shell and Total. Read More
Public-listed Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) is the largest electricity utility company in Malaysia with more than RM65 billion in assets and a customer base of about 6.8 million throughout Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah. Read More
Patsy Wurster, Publisher, Platts Insight
J.D. POWER AND ASSOCIATES RECOGNIZED New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) for its outstanding commitment to customer service with its Founders Award at the 9th annual Platts Global Energy Awards in New York City on November 29, 2007. The Founders Award honors companies or individuals demonstrating exceptional dedication, commitment, and sustained improvement in serving customers. Only 18 companies and individuals have been so honored during J.D. Power and Associates 39 years of existence. Read More
Neil Fleming, Vice President, Platts Strategy
Platts' independent team of cross-industry judges were emphatic: this year's submissions for the "Oscars of the Energy Industry" were the strongest ever. Read More
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