NEWS RELEASE

Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 19, 2006

Contact: Angie Joe
713.743.8153 (office)
713.617.7138 (pager)
ajoe@uh.edu

ENERGY TRADING’S NEWEST PLAYERS
FOCUS OF UPCOMING UH-GEMI CONFERENCE

In just four years, energy trading industry has gone from nearly sealing up its coffin to rebounding to becoming very lively again, says Craig Pirrong of the University of Houston’s Global Energy Management Institute (UH-GEMI).

“Following the collapse of Enron, there was widespread questioning about the viability of energy trading,” said Pirrong, UH-GEMI energy markets director. “Many firms with an energy trading focus saw their stock prices plummet as much as 90 percent and exited the market in 2002-3. In 2004, there were initial signs of a recovery and new players entered into the business. Energy trading is back in again in 2006, though some of the participants have changed.”

Financial institutions, including major banks, investment banks, and hedge funds, are the latest to emerge, Pirrong said. UH-GEMI’s fourth annual trading and marketing conference Jan. 26 at the University Hilton will focus on these new entrants. Speakers include Sharon Brown-Hruska, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner; Bo Collins, MotherRock president and CEO; Arlene Spangler, Standard and Poor’s director; Pat Strange, Sequent Energy senior vice president; and Michael Cosgrove, Amerex CEO.

UH-GEMI is part of the Bauer College of Business.

For more information about the conference, go to https://www.bauer.uh.edu/uhgemi/Forms/trading_2005.htm.

WHAT: Fourth Annual Energy Trading and Marketing Conference
WHO: UH-GEMI
WHEN: Thursday, January 26
 
  • 8:30 a.m. – “The Latest on the CFTC and Regulatory Issues,” Sharon Brown-Hruska,
    CFTC commissioner
  • 9 a.m. – “Developments in Gas Trading and Marketing,” Pat Strange, Sequent Energy senior vice president
  • 9:30 a.m. – “New Developments in Credit Issues,” Arlene Spangler, Standard and Poor’s director
  • 10:15 a.m. – “A Hedging Perspective on Upcoming Trends,” Bo Collins, MotherRock president and CEO
  • 10:45 a.m. – “New Instruments Being Traded in the Marketplace,” Alexander Eydeland, Morgan-Stanley vice president
  • 11:15 a.m. – “This Trading ‘Boom’ is the Real Deal,” Michael Cosgrove, Amerex CEO
  • 11:45 a.m. – “Legislative Developments Affecting Future Trading,” George Baker, Williams and Jensen principal
  • 12:15 p.m. – “Building the Next Generation High Performance Trading Team,” Soli Forouzan, Sungard senior vice president of product management and marketing strategy and Tom Franklin, Sungard vice president of client research
WHERE: University of Houston Hilton, Waldorf-Astoria Ballroom

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.