The newest global business-to-business e-commerce marketplacefor the oil and gas industry, PetroCosm, went live on the Internetlast week, offering a neutral marketplace for trading products andservices.

The industry-owned online marketplace, which boasts ChevronCorp., Texaco Inc., Ariba Inc., Crosspoint Venture Partners andRequisite Technology Inc. as founding partners, will market alltypes of oil and gas industry services and products, from drillingequipment to professional services. The online service offersprocurement, auctions, consulting, community integration, catalog,back office integration, Web/application services, businessprocesses and a customer relations management tool. It also expectsto introduce supply chain planning, financial and managementservices and advertising.

“Our goal is to establish a truly independent, neutral marketthat serves the interests of both buyers and sellers equally whilealso addressing the needs of an international business,” said CEONorman C. Chambers. Chambers, who was recruited to work atPetroCosm from Halliburton Co., said interest in the B2B has been”tremendous,” and said the company was working to bring more usersonline.

The first transaction actually occurred last Monday (July 17),when PetroCosm conducted a reverse English auction for Texaco,through which the company purchased drilling equipment. It plans touse the marketplace to conduct future business transactions aswell.

KPMG Consulting LLC of McLean, VA has been assisting PetroCosmin the launch by helping to build the technical architecture, andby providing support for its business development and programmanagement office.

Based in Houston, PetroCosm also has regional offices in London,Aberdeen, Singapore and Bombay, and may expand beyond that. Accessthe service at www.petrocosm.com.

Carolyn Davis, Houston

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