We need more power!

From the Marketwatch:

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Citigroup Inc. (C) investment bank Tuesday said it has recruited Paul Mead, the current director of continental European power and gas trading at Barclays PLC (BCS), to develop its own European power and gas trading division.

Citigroup expects to hire 20-30 traders as well as a back office team to start trading continental European power and gas, a spokesman for the company said.

The division will be based in London and is expected to start trading in the second quarter of 2007.

Mead, 38, will take up his new position in March. Mead is a well-known figure in power trading, having joined Barclays in 2002 to set up and run the bank's Continental power trading operation. Prior to Barclays, he spent six years working a Enron Europe, a now defunct unit of bankrupt energy firm Enron (ENE).

Aside from gas and power trading, the bank is also considering trading European carbon dioxide allowances, the spokesman said. He added that no specific date has been set for adding the CO2 allowances to its product portfolio list. He also wasn't able to comment on which specific European countries Citigroup plans to trade gas and power.

Citigroup already trades oil, gas and power from Houston, Texas and gas from Calgary, Canada.

Mead will report to Stuart Saley, Global Head of Power and Gas, and in London, Mark Watson, head of fixed income.

Yes, its slightly boring but I am trying to jump start my blogging mojo. Been wondering a lot lately about whether all the money flying into carbon can really be profitable and what sort of political will and understanding there really is to carry through creating a market worth playing in. Especially with the truely interesting debate going on about the value of starting now.

P.S. I widened my page first Barry.