Agro Perspectiva

Cargill further expands its European gas trading team

07.05.2010 11:34 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) — Cargill is further expanding its European gas trading team with the recruitment of Christoph Gardlo as head of gas sales in Germany and Jade Kalinowsky as a short-term trader for the continental gas markets. Gardlo will focus on building relationships with large industrial customers as well as local and regional utilities. He joins Cargill after seven years as account manager for E.ON Ruhrgas, where he was responsible for selling natural gas to power plant owners and operators across Europe. Kalinowsky moves to Cargill’s gas trading desk in Geneva after spending four years working with the company’s energy analysis group in the city, as well as in the United States and Canada. Prior to joining Cargill, Kalinowsky worked at TransAlta Corporation, a Candadian-owned electricity and power company. Both Gardlo and Kalinowsky began their new roles on 1 April and report to Niels Den Nijs, Cargill’s European gas trading manager. «The continental gas markets continue to develop and we have identified opportunities to add value for customers within them», says Peter Bishton, head of Cargill’s global emissions and European power and gas business. «We are continuing to increase our presence in these markets and the expansion of our team is reflective of this.» «Our gas operations in Europe focus on both industrial customers and on local and regional utilities», says Niels Den Nijs. «We provide these customers with a range of flexible delivery and pricing options based on access to the spot and forward gas markets, which enables them to significantly enhance their structured supply management. These activities are supported by our physical storage positions in Germany as well as our upstream supply contracts with producers.» For many years, Cargill has been a significant proprietary trader and merchandiser of power, gas, and carbon emissions certificates. Along with trading offices in Geneva, London and Amsterdam, the company supplies its own industrial plants with gas as well as managing and monitoring their price risk. In February 2009, the company expanded its operations by establishing a physical presence in the German gas markets. The company has subsequently built a physical sales book and provides third-party customers with gas hedging services via the OTC gas markets. In addition to its physical trading activities Cargill also provides innovative risk management solutions to industrial companies and utilities in petroleum, coal, gas, carbon and electricity markets as well as for petro-chemicals and packaging. Cargill’s European emissions, power and gas teams combined now employ 40 people. Meanwhile, in North America the company is a leading trader and transporter of natural gas, serving a wide array of customers across the United States, Mexico and Canada. In addition, Cargill is a member of the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX®), North America’s only voluntary, legally binding greenhouse gas emission reduction programme