Electronic Energy Information Services: An insider's guide to sourcing real-time information
Utilis Energy, LLC, January 2003
This unique study, written by Joseph L Link, former Vice President, Global Delivery Systems with McGraw-Hill/Platts and an individual with more than 30 years of combined electronic and print energy publishing experience, reveals an inside view of real-time systems, their content and features, how they are managed, priced and critically, how they can be purchased most cost effectively.
Recent allegations of staged and erroneous energy transactions used to manipulate pricing indices have put industry pricing publications and electronic information services under increased scrutiny. With corporate reputations and millions of dollars at risk, energy firms must gain a better understanding of real-time energy products, their capabilities and potential drawbacks.
In most instances, real-time services are not purchased wisely or utilized to their fullest potential. This limits their value, raises questions about their effectiveness and hinders corporate performance. This study provides firms currently using, or looking to purchase such systems, ways to:
Maximize their real-time information system investment by better understanding their needs. Case studies are provided to help identify the needs of various sized companies
Avoid common mistakes made when purchasing systems such as over-buying, paying too much or buying the wrong type of services
Obtain a better understanding of real-time services and how to use these services most effectively
Successfully evaluate and navigate through the thicket of information providers, distributors, and vendors and know whom to contact for what specific service
Learn how to interact with system representatives and demand better performance from them. Includes questions to ask prospective vendors, how to evaluate them and negotiate for the best deal possible
Identify future real-time information service trends
Electronic Energy Information Services is designed to enhance your organization’s use of real-time information. By implementing the study’s recommendations, firms will augment their analytical capabilities, operate more efficiently and increase their competitiveness and profitability.
<P>About the Author 3
1 Executive summary 10
2 Defining real-time information services 12
Introduction 12
Special characteristics of real-time services 12
Service displays 16
The role of display software 20
Issues to watch out for 24
A note on copyright 27
3 Information publishers - what they produce 28
Introduction 28
Who are the publishers? 28
4 Information distributors and techniques utilized 35
Introduction 35
Information flow 35
How information is distributed 37
5 Presenting information - display vendors 39
Introduction 39
Information needs 39
Combined news/price real-time display systems 40
Data aggregators 42
6 Selling and support of real-time services 44
Introduction 44
Company structure 44
How real-time services are sold 46
How real-time services are supported 49
7 Real-time news pages 55
Introduction 55
Message and medium 55
Electronic vs. print 56
8 Real-time price pages 62
Introduction 62
Pricing risk 62
Information routing and database applications 63
Data warehouses 67
Data errors and corrections 70
Price assessment methodologies and specifications 75
9 Real-time intraday deals & indications 77
Introduction 77
Deals pages and indications pages 77
New innovations 79
Indications pages 80
10 Real-time futures pages 81
Introduction 81
Basic services 81
11 Real-time charting packages 84
Introduction 84
Charts 84
12 Locating pages - a guide to page directories 90
Introduction 90
Finding the right information 90
13 Effective use of screen desktop space 94
Introduction 94
Setting up your desktop 94
General tips for effective screen presentations 98
“Instant Messenger” windows 99
14 Database storage of news & prices 102
Introduction 102
Effective storage 102
15 Understanding content and building relationships 106
Introduction 106
Who covers news? 106
How are price assessments produced? 108
How much can one rely on this information? 109
Interacting with editors and reporters 109
Winning confidence and building relationships 110
Getting deals reflected in market assessments 111
Creating credible talk instead of propaganda 112
Proper positioning 112
Things to avoid 112
Journalistic rules and terms to know about 113
Methods of recourse 114
16 Case studies to optimize usage 116
Introduction 116
Case Study 1: GasCo, a large energy company 116
Case Study 2: SXR, a medium-size power trading company 121
17 What to expect in the future 127
Introduction 127
Distribution 128
New formats for information 129
New display devices 130
Quality of futures information 131
Conclusion 133</P>
<P>TABLES
Table 1: Publishers as distributors of information 36
Table 2: Distributor software package attributes 40
Table 3: Large GasCo’s information needs 119
Table 4: Medium sized SXR’s information needs 122
Table 5: Small sized trading firm - Mitchell’s information needs 125</P>
<P>The usefulness of energy market information is driven by speed. For the last 40 years we have seen a continuing evolution of delivery technologies ranging from printed publications delivered through the postal system to streams of information delivered instantaneously through the Internet.</P>
<P>The energy industry’s consistent need for more timely delivery of information is based upon changing market dynamics. For many years the global energy market was primarily US-centric and it was sufficient to deliver petroleum news and price information to customers via the postal service and international courier. The need for more timely information accelerated with increasing globalization of the petroleum and petrochemical markets and the deregulation of US oil prices in 1980. Early real-time delivery systems were launched to meet these new needs. Early real-time information systems of many publishers were wedded to that publisher’s proprietary terminal. The connections were quick and reliable, but users began to balk at the
proliferation of terminals on their desks as their needs grew and as they decided that they wanted to have information supplied by more than one publisher. In the early 1990s, the greater proliferation of PCs, coupled with software developments made it possible for customers to receive information from several publishers and information sources on one desktop screen.
Information amalgamators began to proliferate. Finally, large publishers began to get into the act, offering greater delivery transparency. The resulting real-time electronic energy information services are a very useful tool for companies looking to maximize the profit value of information. They do what they claim: They get information to your decision makers nearly as fast as it is generated. However, making most effective use of that information can be tricky. Information is presented in many different formats. It’s organized in a multiplicity of ways that try to meet the larger-scale needs of a broad cross section of companies.</P>
<P>Used correctly, an investment in an electronic information system can be a wise move, returning a great deal of value to your employees. However, used incorrectly, systems can be duplicative of print services, and can actually cost your company valuable time and money.</P>
<P>This guide attempts to help companies get the most for their money. It will provide information on a number of fronts:</P>
<P> What are the special characteristics of real-time services?
How are they sold and supported?
What distribution vendors are out there?
What kind of information is presented in these services?
How their content differs from print publications.
How to configure systems for maximum effect.
Getting to know the people who produce the information.</P>
<P>This study has been produced by individuals who are electronic information “insiders”, with a combined total of more than 30 years management experience working for both electronic and print energy information publishers. It provides detailed information that will help you and your company make informed strategic decisions about which types of systems to buy and how to
make sure these systems fit your needs without eating away at your company’s bottom line.</P>
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