HoustonStreet Exchange, a Web-based exchange and portal fortrading wholesale energy products, got another shot in its capitalarm through an equity investment from Conoco Inc., the country’sfifth largest integrated energy company. The investment marks amajor commitment by Conoco to trade crude oil, refined products(such as heating oil, gasoline and jet fuel) and natural gas onHoustonStreet.com.

The Conoco alliance is the fourth in a series of recentinvestments major energy companies have made in HoustonStreet. OnApril 6, global venture capital fund kRoad Ventures LP andinternational energy and utilities company Vivendi SA took anequity stake in Portsmouth, NH-based HoustonStreet. Other majorindustry players that recently committed capital, liquidity andstrategic guidance to HoustonStreet include Sithe Energies Inc.,Williams Energy Marketing & Trading Co., and Equiva TradingCo., the U.S. trading arm of Shell, Texaco and Saudi Aramco’sdownstream alliances, Equilon and Motiva.

Conoco’s commitment to trade on HoustonStreet.com will add asignificant amount of trading volume to the site, HoustonStreetsaid. As part of the deal, Conoco will also provide strategicguidance on continued site enhancements, based on user feedback andchanging market dynamics.

“To have one of the leading integrated energy companies in theworld select HoustonStreet validates not only our technology, butalso our vision for the future of real-time B2B exchanges,” saidBrian King, vice president, crude oil and refined products atHoustonStreet. “Our partnership with Conoco will leverage ourability to provide efficiencies that extend well beyond the tradingfloor.”

Joe Fisher, Houston

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