Market upbeat as WeatherRisk 2002 opens

The WeatherRisk 2002 conference in New York opened today in upbeat mood, with speakers predicting strong future growth in the market despite the pull out of two leading weather derivatives trading firms, Enron and BNP Paribas.

Tom Fletcher, head of weather trading for Mirant, told delegates at the New York conference – held jointly by Risk magazine and Energy and Power Risk Management (EPRM) – that despite Enron and BNP Paribas' withdrawal, the outlook for continued growth is good. “Mirant has been in the weather market since the beginning in 1997 and since then people have come and gone,” said Fletcher. “But the market has grown exponentially in that time, from a handful of deals in winter 1997/98 to over 1,500 in