National Petroleum Authority, Ghana

Platts, the world leading provider of information on oil and minerals is holding a conference in the UK on ‘Managing Oil and Energy Risk’. The conference which is curently underway is bringing together ‘key decision makers from across the European oil and gas majors, financiers, commodity traders, rating agencies, stock exchanges, governments and regulatory bodies, to examine the issues and challenges at the heart of current European oil debate’, Platts sources say. The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) is participating in the conference. The Acting Chief Executive of the Authority, Mr. Alex Mould and the Deputy Director, Planning, Pricing and Research (PPR), Mr. Dan Amoah are representing the Authority. Last year, oil prices soared to unprecedented highs only to plunge to five-year lows. First half of this year saw prices down only to shoot back at th fastest rate seen in a decade. In the face of these volatility coupled with global credit crunch, every company with exposure to oil prices has been forced radically to reassess previously well established processes — from who they can trade with to any longer term ideas of price. There has also been a marked reduction in the number of institutions offering risk management tools to the market, as they are unable to extend those services to the market place through lack of credit. Unsurprisingly, credit and counterparty risk top the list of concerns among energy professionals when talking about managing costs. This conference ends on Friday.
Credit: Platts