Europe

Two of the major exchanges trading natural gas, the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) and the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) are among a handful of exchanges in the U.S. and Europe that have been discussing possibly purchasing the New York Board of Trade (Nybot), according to an article Thursday in The Wall Street Journal. The article, based on sources, said two exchanges are still in talks, but it did not say which two. Nybot, which has floor-based trading of some agricultural products, would be a good fit with either CBOT Holdings, owner of the Chicago Board of Trade, or ICE, because Nybot has a clearing business, WSJ went on to say. Nybot has space on Nymex’s trading floor in Lower Manhattan.

Drawing on findings from a benchmarking study of the largest U.S.- and Europe-based oil and natural gas companies, a study by UK-based consultant Wood Mackenzie has found that development expenditures for upstream projects reached record levels over a five-year period ending in 2003 at $49.5 billion compared with $34.6 billion in 1998.

Drawing on findings from a benchmarking study of the largest U.S.- and Europe-based oil and natural gas companies, a study by UK-based consultant Wood Mackenzie has found that development expenditures for upstream projects reached record levels over a five-year period ending in 2003 at $49.5 billion compared with $34.6 billion in 1998.

Adding its name to the growing list of companies that have exited the North American energy marketing and trading business, German super-utility RWE AG said last week that RWE Trading Americas — a subsidiary of RWE Trading GmbH — will exit the market before the end of the year.

Adding its name to the growing list of companies that have exited the North American energy marketing and trading function, German super-utility RWE AG said Tuesday that RWE Trading Americas — a subsidiary of RWE Trading GmbH — will exit the market before the end of the year.

U.S.-based IntercontinentalExchange’s (ICE) takeover of Europe’s International Petroleum Exchange is basically a done deal, with approval of 89.6% of the shares. As of June 15, ICE’s financial adviser, Goldman Sachs, had received 10.25 million shares of acceptance, and with 90% or more of IPE shares in hand, ICE may exercise its right to acquire the rest of the outstanding shares.