Global Energy Economy Course

Building on the popularity of the “Commodities” course initiated by Dr. Rouben Indjikian in 2013, a new course entitled "Global Energy Economy" was launched this Summer Term at Webster Geneva Campus. This course, also developed by Professor Indjikian, studies the nature of energy economy, its past and future, reviews main energy markets, including price setting in oil, gas and coal markets, looks at international trade policies in the area of energy, and seeks to address the challenges of energy dependent developing economies, as well as how energy supply chains relate to risk management and finance.

Students taking Summer Term courses on the Geneva campus are accustomed to having inspiring guest speakers present in class, as well as eye and mind-opening field trips to local companies and organizations. The Global Energy Economy course was no exception. During the first half of the term, students were privileged to hear from and meet two leading energy markets analysts, David Fyfe of Gunvor and Benoit Lioud of Mercuria, and from an experienced trader, Peter Hendry of Nekton.

Dr. Indjikian also arranged for his students to visit the Service Industriel de Genève (SIG), the energy utility company providing electricity, water and heating to the inhabitants of Geneva. The lectures given at the SIG training hall included a presentation of SIG activities by Marc Torbay, Head of Communications, who kindly hosted the Webster visit, and an extremely forward looking presentation by Giorgio Pauletto, Head of Strategies of SIG, on innovations at large and in the energy sector, in particular. Pauletto’s presentation, which was extremely well received by the students, was full of optimism on the future of mankind and our relationship to modern technologies.