It’s approaching five years since the EU gas directive came into force in August 2000, promising market liberalisation, choice and lower prices for Europe ’s gas customers. In many ways the liberalisation agenda has moved swiftly since then, with much greater legal market opening than was anticipated at the time, but in other ways the practical effects of liberalisation in terms of choice and lower prices, have been slow to develop in many European markets. The first of an occasional series on European gas markets, this article looks at the context of European liberalisation as a whole and reviews the progress so far in the key market of Germany .

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mWELCOME

Hello and welcome to the April issue of MZINE, our free monthly newsletter. After looking at the UK gas supply last month, we thought it would be appropriate to look at the European gas markets with a focus on Germany this month, see MSTORY for the full story. At MPRICES we take a look at the Oil Forward Curve, whilst at MPHASIS Derek, our illustrator, has excelled himself with this months cartoon. Don't forget to check out our thought of the month at MPATHY, or MTRAIN for the latest training courses,

I hope you have a happy Easter and enjoy the extra few days off, if you have them.

If you enjoy reading this newsletter and think you know someone who might also enjoy it then feel free to forward it on.

Kind regards

Paul Cassar
Editor
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mTRAIN

Coming up over the next few months, the following training courses are being held in Oxford , England . They are all one-day events apart from the EU Gas Markets course which is an exciting two-day examination of EU gas market principles including an analysis of six European countries.  More information about these courses can be found by clicking on the course title or visiting energytrainingnetwork.com and clicking on public courses. Alternatively you can contact me by email or phone +44 (0) 1865 395826, fax +44 (0) 1865 395959

OTHER DATES

LNG FINANCE FORUM The Waldorf Hilton, London, 9-10 May 2005

Tuesday 24th May to Friday 27th May Essentials of International Gas Trading

Course Review

Essentials of International Gas Trading  

Petroleum Economist’s Essentials of International Gas Trading is an intensive four-day course, designed to give participants a comprehensive understanding of the way gas markets work and a practical appreciation of the principles, drivers and tools of trading in different gas markets.

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mPRICES
FORWARD OIL CURVE

Increasingly bullish demand forecasts, slower than expected growth in non-OPEC supply and fears of a downstream capacity squeeze later this year sent prices soaring again over the past month. WTI prices are $10/ bbl higher all the way along the forward curve and above $50/bbl as far ahead as 2008. The front end of the curve remains in a shallow contango, reflecting comfortable stocks in PADD II ahead of seasonal turnarounds, but the high absolute price level signals growing concern about the ability of the global supply system to meet strong demand growth in the future.

OPEC now recognises the problem and is attempting to allay market fears by boosting output in order to help the industry rebuild stocks ahead of next winter and reiterating its commitment to meet demand. However, this has only served to reinforce market concerns. The balance of Calendar 2005 WTI is $57/bbl – equivalent to nearly $55/bbl for Brent and over $50/bbl for the OPEC basket of crudes.

Reproduced from CGES Monthly Oil Report with kind permission of CGES. www.cges.co.uk

mPHASIS!
for the lighter side of life!

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mPATHY
thought of the month!

   ¹GOD, my shepherd! I don't need a thing.

    ²You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from.

    ³True to your word, you let me catch my breath, and send me in the right direction.

Psalm 23 (The Message)

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mOFFERS
this month's exciting offers!

Gas and Electricity Trading in Italy, written by Nick F White and Philip Pike and published January 2002. We have reduced the price of this report from £225 to £150* for our readers. To find out more about this report visit: www.energypublishing.com/Italy_about.htm 

For 2005 we have produced a high quality A2 year planner detailing all of our training courses as well as space for you to mark those other important events. There is also other useful information such as a conversion chart relevant to the energy industry and netconnections, a list of web addresses at your fingertips. To receive one, please send me an email with your postal address and I will send you one with our compliments*. 

*(while stocks last)

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mFEATURE
The Gas Trading Manual

Much has changed in the international gas market since the first edition of Gas Trading Manual was published in 2001. As expected progress has continued towards greater market liberalisation. European gas and electricity markets are gradually being opened up to competition and EU energy ministers have finally agreed to speed up the process, setting a new target date of July 2007 by which time all consumers must be able to choose their gas supplier. At the same time mergers and acquisitions have changed the corporate landscape creating big new multinational utility companies with new priorities. Confidence in the role of trading has been hit by corporate failures such as the collapse of Enron which has forced many companies to re-evaluate the role of trading in their businesses. Nevertheless trading is here to stay and the opening up of the European gas and electricity markets continues to foster the development of new market structures wherever they are needed.

The new edition of GTM takes all these changes into account whilst presenting the single most complete source of information currently available on the international gas markets. GTM is the leading information source on this complex industry and this new edition is set to further enhance its reputation.

Copyright © 2005, MJMENERGY LTD. All rights reserved (but feel free to copy, post, quote, think about or forward on)