Kiodex adds more energy forwards curves

Kiodex, a New York-based energy risk management technology company, told delegates at an EPRM congress in Houston yesterday that it will add five new forward curves to its global market data offering.

Clients of the company’s web-based Risk Workbench now have access to 50 natural gas forward curves to use for pricing trades and running financial and regulatory reports, meaning Kiodex now covers approximately 90% of all major North American natural gas locations.

“With the collapse of Enron and the barrage of other accounting and corporate governance scandals that followed, the need for transparent independent market data has come into the spotlight,” said Kiodex president and founder Raj Mahajan. “Companies cannot afford to have doubt regarding the accuracy and transparency of their financial statements, counterparty credit exposure, mark-to-market figures, VAR calculations or FAS 133 reporting. And the accuracy of these items cannot exist without accuracy in forward price curves.”

More than 40 energy companies and corporates with significant energy-related exposures use Kiodex to design hedging strategies and to facilitate compliance with mark-to-market accounting standards. Current clients include Virgin Atlantic Airways, Cinergy, Enserco Energy and Union Pacific Railroad. Earlier this month natural gas and oil firms Gryphon Exploration, Mission Resources and Murphy Oil also signed up to Kiodex’s Risk Workbench system.

Although the energy trading sector has suffered a number of setbacks during the past year, energy technology companies, such as Kiodex, KWI and Murex among others, are noting an upswing in business. Companies are implementing new technologies to monitor risk exposures, to placate nervous shareholders and convince regulators that adequate risk management controls are in place. The risk management recommendations of the industry body Committee of Chief Risk Officers are also encouraging firms to adopt technology for transaction reporting to meet best practice standards.