Sept 20, 2022, Meeting of the CFTC's Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee

Today, I finally had a chance to watch a recording of the September 20, 2022, meeting of the CFTC’s Energy & Environmental Markets Advisory Committee (EEMAC). In past posts, I’ve mentioned having coauthored my first energy paper and my involvement with the University of Oklahoma’s Robert M. Zinke Energy Management Program, the first of its kind in the U.S.! The roles of derivatives in energy and commodity markets is increasingly in the spotlight. For example, last spring, European energy traders reached out to the European Central Bank (ECB) for emergency liquidity support because of clearinghouse collateral calls, but the ECB declined to assist. And there was the LME nickel incident of March 2022 (a post here). Undoubtedly, the interconnections between energy and financial markets, particularly derivatives, are set to become increasingly critical, especially in the global transition to a clean energy future.

The EEMAC meeting focused on two topics: 1) “Investment in physical energy infrastructure and the effect on price volatility in the commodities markets” and 2) “The role of the metals market as components in transitional energy sources and the potential impact on financial markets regulated by the CFTC.” The agenda can be found is here. The EEMAC voted to recommend to the CFTC Commissioners that Subcommittees be formed to study/write reports on each topic.

I thought I’d also note a few areas of the meeting that I found particularly interesting. First, Derek Sammann from CME Group gave a fascinating presentation on The Impact of the Energy Transition on the Global Metals Markets (starts at about 2:01:30). The concluding slide had the statement: “More than anything, the energy transition is a Metals story.” Second, I listened intently to a couple of participants discuss aspects of the LME nickel incident (3:00:25). Third, I found several participants’ discussion of systemic risk, FCMs, and their capital requirements really insightful (1:40:18).