Calgary-based Nexen Inc.’s natural gas marketing business is a consistent leader in the Mastiogale customer satisfaction surveys. And for several years, it’s been a regular on NGI‘s Top 20 gas marketer surveys. The secret to its success? Focus.

Primarily a physical merchant, Nexen Marketing sells proprietary and third-party gas, crude, natural gas liquids and power in regional markets in North America. The core focus is in Western Canada, spreading east across the Great Lakes region, where the company has a “high ratio of sales from transportation and storage,” said David Slater, managing director of the company’s marketing and structured products.

“Our volume has not fluctuated a lot in the past few years,” Slater said. “The reason is, we have stayed focused on the regions in which we have the deepest knowledge. It’s not a complicated strategy…but it’s enabled us to do things that other types of marketers, such as banks, cannot do. We are focused on the physical sale. We need all types of marketers, but our strategy is to be able to work closely with our customers in select markets and through physical sales.”

With its “simple” strategy, as Slater said, Nexen Marketing can use competitive pricing by selling the company’s production and capitalize on low-risk trading aligned with its transportation and storage assets. Nexen Marketing employs about two dozen marketers in North America where it has access, with offices in Calgary, Michigan, Denver and Houston.

Slater will be detailing Nexen’s approach to natural gas marketing as part of a panel discussing the evolution of gas trading at NGI‘s 20th annual GasMart Conference and trade show in Denver from May 3-5. For more information, including a list of attendees, or to register, visit https://gasmart.com.

Nexen Marketing holds and manages export transportation on several pipelines, including those in British Columbia, Alberta, and to Eastern Canada, the U.S. Northeast, Midwest, West and Pacific Northwest. The company is the largest marketer and shipper on the TransGas pipeline system in Saskatchewan, with an extensive base of producers, industrial end-users and local distribution companies. It also is a large marketer on the ATCO and TransCanada Alberta pipeline systems, as well as on the Canadian export pipelines.

“Part of our strategy is to be an hour to an hour and a half away from our key clients,” Slater said. “If we need to, we can be at a client’s office the same day they call. There’s a cost to do that, but there are benefits too.”

What Nexen brings to the table, Slater said, is a “people culture” that is “very inclusive. We respect the customers. We prefer the collaborative approach when we are working on contracts. If a customer has issues, we prefer to work it out.” That approach is “embedded in Nexen marketing.”

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