EFET To Set Up Belgian Electricity Task Force
Dow Jones Energy Service, 04/10/01

GERMANY: DB Energie says German power trade in too few hands.
Reuters English News Service, 04/10/01

INDIA: INTERVIEW-India says Enron issue won't affect investment.
Reuters English News Service, 04/10/01

Saudi Gas Committee Submits Proj Leader Proposal-Sources
Dow Jones Energy Service, 04/10/01

Online Energy Trading Will Exceed $3.6 Trillion By 2005, According To 
Forrester Research
Business Wire, 04/10/01

Indian Govt, Enron Set Up Committee to Resolve Tariff Dispute
Bloomberg, 04/10/01

Qatar Says Foreign Oil Companies May Invest $15 Billion by 2005
Bloomberg, 04/10/01



EFET To Set Up Belgian Electricity Task Force

04/10/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

BRUSSELS -(Dow Jones)- The European Federation of Energy Traders said Tuesday 
that it is forming a task force to look into the Belgian electricity market. 
"A number of our members have raised concerns about the trading environment 
in Belgium. This will be examined by the new task force," an EFET spokesman 
said.
The Belgian Task Force Electricity will include, among others, 
representatives from TXU Corp. (TXU), RWE Trading, Enron Europe (U.ENE), 
Eneco and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (MWD) as well as and an energy 
specialist from the academic sphere. One or two Spanish players may also join 
the group. 
The task force is scheduled to hold its first meeting on May 19, a 
politically sensitive time for Belgium, as it is due to take over the E.U.'s 
rotating presidency from Sweden in June. 
The European Electricity Directive requires member states to have opened up 
at least 26.5% of their electricity markets by 1999. However, according to 
industry groups only 5% of the Belgian market is presently open to 
competition. 
EFET, which has 47 European energy trading companies among its members, has 
already set up a task force to look into the French power market - French 
Task Force Electricity - and a similar group to look at the German gas market 
- German Task Force Gas. 
-By Victoria Knight, Dow Jones Newswires; 322-285-132; 
victoria.knight@dowjones.com

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 


GERMANY: DB Energie says German power trade in too few hands.
By Vera Eckert

04/10/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

FRANKFURT, April 10 (Reuters) - DB Energie GmbH, the power supply division of 
German railways, said on Tuesday it was worried by a concentration of power 
trading in too few hands. 
Consolidation at the generation level had resulted in a trade oligopoly which 
only speedier market liberalisation across Europe could help overcome, said 
DB Energie, the leading power consumer accounting for three percent of the 
German total.
"Four big power companies are too few to guarantee competition," DB Energie 
spokesman Andreas P. Meyer said. 
"A few players can tighten supplies artificially, thus boosting prices, while 
there are high entry barriers for newcomers," he told Reuters. 
"As large consumers we want the harmonisation process in the EU to gather 
speed so that we can choose from a host of suppliers who are competing with 
each other." 
Since liberalisation two years ago, when German utilities rediscovered their 
customers and wooed them with price cuts, there has been a strong 
consolidation process, leaving most of the power generation market to three 
large companies. 
These are RWE , E.ON , EnBW . 
A fourth company is emerging in the country's east under the leadership of 
Hamburg utility HEW , backed by its Swedish majority owner Vattenfall . 
The formerly separate trading arms of the newly merged companies such as 
VEW/RWE are now operating under one roof. 
The entry of new players such as U.S. firm Enron and brokerage start-ups has 
not dented the position of the big four. 
CONSUMERS LACK CHOICE OF INDEPENDENT SELLERS 
"The distribution divisions of the big players have become the mouthpieces of 
their trading divisions with little room for manoeuvre - it's definitely not 
a buyers' market," Meyer said. 
He also said that railway operator Deutsche Bahn AG which paid 2.8 billion 
marks for its energy needs last year was burdened by high energy-related 
taxes. 
The tax bill on energy supplied by the DB Energie subsidiary to the parent 
company last year amounted to 620 million marks, but was seen rising to 900 
million by the year 2005. 
This was attributed to four taxes - the eco-tax on fuel use, the KWK law 
subsidising combined heat and power, the EEG law supporting renewable 
energies and the mineral oil tax. 
DB Energie's turnover last year of 2.2 billion marks did not exclusively 
represent energy purchases on behalf of Deutsche Bahn, but also reflected the 
growing third party business including portfolio management services, Meyer 
said. 
At the same time, Deutsche Bahn also bought some electricity, diesel oil, 
water, gas and heat from sources other than its own multi-utility subsidiary. 
Meyer said DB Energie had set itself ambitious growth and profit targets for 
the coming years. 
Of the 15 terawatt hours (TWh) purchases handled last year, which are 
projected to rise to 17.3 TWh in 2001, some 2 TWh were on behalf of external 
energy consumers. 
Meyer said he expected that the 2 TWh could increase fivefold by 2004, due to 
the expansion of traffic volumes and the rise of private freight forwarding 
companies. 
His firm also aimed to help Deutsche Bahn save 100 million marks a year 
through efficient usage of the entire supply chain. 
But it wanted to be a buying and portfolio specialist - it would not become a 
classical power trader in its own right.

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 


INDIA: INTERVIEW-India says Enron issue won't affect investment.
By Unni Krishnan

04/10/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

NEW DELHI, April 10 (Reuters) - Indian Power Minister Suresh Prabhu said on 
Tuesday a row over U.S. energy giant Enron's controversy-ridden project in 
western India would not affect foreign investment in the power sector. 
The long-running quarrel between Enron's Indian unit, Dabhol Power Co (DPC), 
and the Maharashtra state government heated up on Monday when DPC sent a 
political force majeure notice to state utility Maharashtra State Electricity 
Board (MSEB).
Political force majeure is any event beyond the reasonable control of an 
affected party that could not have been prevented by good practice. It forms 
a part of major financial contracts. 
"Enron is not the symbol of the power sector in India. I want to assure the 
international investor that we are for FDI (foreign direct investment). But a 
commercial dispute should not be viewed as a reflection on FDI inflows," 
Prabhu told Reuters. 
India, which is gripped by a severe power crisis with close to 80,000 
villages without electricity, began power reforms in the early 1990s to 
attract private and foreign investment in the sector to meet the hunger for 
electricity. 
But many foreign power firms including Cogentrix of the United States, 
Electricite De France and Daewoo of South Korea have pulled out of different 
projects following disputes over pricing and the slow pace of reforms in the 
sector. 
SPARRING MATCH 
Enron and the Indian government have been sparring for the past few months 
over MSEB's repeated default on payments owed to Dabhol Power Co which is 65 
percent owned by Houston-based Enron. 
Last week, DPC sent an arbitration notice to the federal government to try to 
recover 1.02 billion rupees due from the state utility. 
Prabhu said the dispute was purely commercial and that many countries were 
interested in getting involved in India's power sector. 
"So many companies are coming. We are signing MoUs (memorandums of 
understanding) with Norway, Sweden and Canada for development of power 
projects," he told Reuters. "So where is the question of FDI (foreign direct 
investment) getting affected?" 
He said the government would seek conciliation with Enron and planned to 
start negotiations soon. "We will mutually agree and decide." 
He said the focus of India's power reforms was on revamping distribution and 
drawing foreign direct investment in this area. 
He said the government was keen on increasing capacity by 100,000 megawatts 
by 2012 by revamping distribution, modernisation of existing plants and 
greenfield projects. 
India had an installed capacity of 96,950 megawatts as of March 31, 2000. It 
needs another 100,000 megawatts in the next 10 years. 
But potential investors have been deterred by the poor finances of state 
electricity boards which are expected to run up combined losses of 285.45 
billion rupees in 2001/02 due to mismanagement and theft in power 
distribution. 
On the generation side, Prabhu said the government was planning to set up 
joint ventures with the domestic private sector for nuclear power. 
"We are looking at this. The (state-run) Power Finance Corporation is looking 
at the possibility of creating joint ventures," he added.

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 


Saudi Gas Committee Submits Proj Leader Proposal-Sources
By Dyala Sabbagh
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

04/10/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

DUBAI --(Dow Jones)- The Saudi Arabian committee negotiating with 
international oil companies on gas projects on offer in the kingdom has 
submitted its proposals for consortium leaders for the three core ventures to 
the Supreme Petroleum Council for approval, sources familiar with the process 
told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday. 
Once approved, other consortium members will be selected followed by 
memoranda of understanding, expected sometime in May, the sources said.
Final approval will also be required from the kingdom's Supreme Economic 
Council, headed by Crown Prince Abdullah, the sources added. 
Consortium leaders will be responsible for directing further detailed 
negotiations on the core projects such as pricing and finance, on behalf of 
those companies selected for each project. The current shortlist of 10 
companies hoping to get a piece of the pie may be trimmed once leaders are 
officially approved. ExxonMobil Seen As Fronrunner For $15B South Ghawar 
Project 

Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD), BP Amoco PLC (BP), ExxonMobil (XOM), Chevron 
(CHV), TotalFinaElf (TOT) and ENI SpA (E) have been shortlisted for core 
venture number one, the $15-billion South Ghawar Area Development. Although 
Exxon, Shell and BP have all been dubbed as frontrunners, ExxonMobil is 
thought to have the strongest chance of selection, the sources said. 
ExxonMobil has been present in Saudi Arabia since the 1960s and is one of the 
largest foreign direct investors in the kingdom, with three existing refining 
joint ventures. The company is also Saudi national oil company Saudi Aramco's 
largest crude oil customer. 
For core venture two, the Red Sea Development, Enron Corp. (ENE) and 
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) are bidding jointly and ExxonMobil, 
TotalfinaElf, Marathon Oil Canada Inc. (T.M), Shell and Conoco Inc. (COCA) 
have also been listed. Among these, Total and Shell have been dubbed as 
strong possibilities, the sources said. 
For core venture three, the Shaybah area, TotalFinaElf, Conoco, Phillips 
Petroleum (P), Enron & Occidental, ExxonMobil, Shell and Marathon Oil have 
been listed. Conoco and TotalfinaElf are seen as the frontrunners on this. 
Each core project has on average six to ten individual components and the 
three have a combined investment value of about $25 billion. 
As well as getting operatorship of the projects, consortium leaders are 
likely to get the largest stake in any project. 
Saudi Arabia invited international oil companies to invest in its downstream 
gas sector and upstream gas enhancement over two years ago in an attempt to 
meet an estimated demand of 14 billion cubic feet a day of gas by 2025. 
Currently, there is about 2.5 bcf/day in the kingdom's gas system. 
-By Dyala Sabbagh, Dow Jones Newswires; 9714 3314260; 
dyala.sabbagh@dowjones.com

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 


Online Energy Trading Will Exceed $3.6 Trillion By 2005, According To 
Forrester Research

04/10/2001
Business Wire
(Copyright (c) 2001, Business Wire)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 10, 2001--Despite a tumultuous 
environment created by rising energy prices and new laws and regulations, 
online energy trading in wholesale markets surged 750% from 1999 to 2000. 
According to a new Report by Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR), online 
energy trading will continue this rapid growth -- leaping from $400 billion 
in 2000 to $3.6 trillion in 2005. Three-quarters of this volume will come 
from the rollout of new over-the-counter financial derivatives like swaps and 
spreads. 
"Despite last year's turbulence, energy companies jumped on the Net 
bandwagon, investing in dot-com trading sites, building private eCommerce 
platforms, and forming industry consortia," said Jim Walker, senior analyst 
at Forrester. "While Enron dominated online trade in 2000, new industry 
consortia like TradeSpark and IntercontinentalExchange are ramping up volume 
-- increasing liquidity for the entire market."
As energy companies adopt the Net, their trading style will change from art 
to science. In this environment, companies will supplement person-to-person 
negotiated deals with quantitative analysis and program trading. The speed 
and efficiency of online trade will also push traders to develop 
straight-through processing from order capture to contract settlement -- 
enabling companies to post real-time P&Ls in this highly volatile market. 
Rather than giving rise to a plethora of new venues, the majority of online 
trading will occur at only a few sites. By 2005, three distinct venues will 
form to serve different markets: one liquidity hub, three merchant platforms, 
and thirty solution sites. The liquidity hub will attract companies seeking 
to exchange price risk in pure commodities. Merchant platforms will offer 
industry marketmakers a venue for trading products to maximize margins from 
their own long-term assets and customer contracts. Finally, energy companies 
will offer branded solution sites to structure special deals and provide 
customized services for their wholesale customers. 
"We expect enymex to win out as the liquidity hub, leveraging the strength of 
its offline trading infrastructure and institutional trading community," 
added Walker. "The leaders of the merchant hubs will be Enron, ICE, and 
TradeSpark -- supported by traders willing to make markets and act as 
specialists for specific products." 
For the Report "Net Energy Hits Hypergrowth," Forrester spoke with executives 
from online energy marketplaces, energy producers, industrial customers, 
traders, and software suppliers. 

Forrester Research is a leading emerging-technology research firm, analyzing 
technology change and its impact on business, consumers, and society. 
Forrester's "Whole View" of the Internet economy enables clients to weave 
together Internet commerce initiatives with eBusiness technology to satisfy 
customers' changing needs. Clients receive continuous research and analysis 
through Forrester eResearch(TM) Reports, an array of Advisory Services, 
Assessment Tools, and topical events. Established in 1983, Forrester is 
headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., with North American Research Centers in 
San Francisco, Calif., and Toronto, Canada. Forrester's European Research 
Center is located in Amsterdam, Netherlands, its UK Research Centre is 
located in London, and its Research Center Deutschland is located in 
Frankfurt, Germany. Additional information about Forrester Research can be 
found at www.forrester.com. 

(c)2001, Forrester Research, Inc. Forrester and Forrester eResearch are 
trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc.


CONTACT: Jean Kong Forrester Research, Inc. +1 617/613-6025 
press@forrester.com or Jenny Cherrytree Golin/Harris International for 
Forrester +1 213/623-4200 ext. 707 jcherrytree@golinharris.com 
09:01 EDT APRIL 10, 2001 

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 


Indian Govt, Enron Set Up Committee to Resolve Tariff Dispute
2001-04-10 09:32 (New York)


     Mumbai, April 10 (Bloomberg) -- India and the local unit of
Enron Corp., the world's largest energy trader, will set up a
committee to try and settle a dispute over unpaid electricity
bills, company spokesman Jimmy Mogal said.
     Dabhol Power Co., 65 percent owned by Enron, yesterday
invoked `political force majeure' which allows it to stop selling
power to Maharashtra state without being penalized.
     The three-member panel will include one person each nominated
by Dabhol Power and the Indian government, said Mogal. The third
member will be chosen by these two, he said.
     The case will go to international arbitration if the panel
fails to arrive at a solution, Mogal said.
     The Maharashtra State Electricity Board, or MSEB, Dabhol
Power's only customer, hasn't paid the December 2000 bill of 1.02
billion rupees ($22 million) and the January bill of 1.27 billion
rupees, saying they were too high.
     The defaults have forced Dabhol Power to invoke payment
guarantees by India's federal and Maharashtra state government,
where its plant is located.
     That forced the government today to agree to conciliation,
Agence France Presse reported today, citing India's Finance
Minister Yashwant Sinha.
     Enron's $3 billion power, 740 megawatt-a-year project, is the
biggest foreign investment in India. The project faced numerous
delays and at one point was canceled after a change of government
at the state. Enron revived it after agreeing to cut power prices
by 22 percent and sell a 30 percent stake to the state government.

--Ravil Shirodkar in the Mumbai newsroom (91-22) 233-9029 or at
rshirodkar@bloomberg.net/nmn


Qatar Says Foreign Oil Companies May Invest $15 Billion by 2005
2001-04-10 09:57 (New York)


     Doha, Qatar, April 10 (Bloomberg) -- Qatar, which holds the
world's third-largest reserves of natural gas, said foreign
companies may invest as much as $15 billion into the Gulf state's
energy industry over the next five years.
     ``A major chunk of this is expected to come from the U.S.,''
said Qatar's finance minister, Youssef Hussein Kamal, who spoke at
an investment conference in Doha attended by a delegation from the
U.S. Congress. ``Qatar offers foreign investors security and
political stability.''
     Dolphin Energy Ltd., a venture of the Abu Dhabi government,
Total Fina Elf SA and Enron Corp., signed an accord with Qatar
last month to buy more than $2 billion in natural gas a year.
Dolphin would develop Qatar's North Dome field, the world's
largest natural gas field, and build a pipeline under the Gulf to
the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
     The gas may be used to power industrial development. A
collapse in oil prices in 1998 reinforced the need for Gulf states
to cut their dependence on crude oil sales and create jobs for the
more than 50 percent of the population that is under the age of
25.
     Qatar is the smallest oil producer in the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries.