Our energy marketing group currently sells proprietary and third-party natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquids and power in certain regional markets around the world. We use financial and derivative contracts, including futures, forwards, swaps and options for hedging purposes.
Our marketing strategy is to:
- obtain competitive pricing on the sale of our oil and gas production;
- provide market intelligence in support of our oil and gas operations;
- provide superior customer service to producers and consumers;
- capitalize on crude oil market opportunities through physical trading; and
- optimize physical assets or contracts to which we have access.
This strategy aligns with our corporate focus on realizing the full value from our assets and provides us with the market intelligence needed to deliver oil and gas production to market at competitive pricing.
During 2010, we signed an agreement to sell our North American natural gas marketing business. The transaction closed in the third quarter of 2010.