February 19, 1999
El Paso Energy Joins UT's Energy Finance Center
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AUSTIN, Texas -- Pledging $500,000 over five years, El Paso Energy Corporation becomes the second leading energy firm to join UT-Austin’s Center for Energy Finance Education and Research (CEFER).
The CEFER is a first-ever collaboration between the energy industry and an academic institution to create the preeminent academic program in energy finance, an emerging field with a growing need for financial managers who can understand, quantify, monitor, and manage the financial risks created by volatile energy prices.
Established last April, the CEFER responds to the rapid changes taking place in the energy industry, including the widespread marketing of energy commodities and the development of a deregulated, competitive electricity market. The Center and its accompanying Energy Finance Program will serve as an industry resource for qualified MBA graduates who can work in financial analysis, valuation, and trading positions with major oil and gas exploration, production, and distribution companies, energy trading firms, power companies, and leading investment banking, consulting, and financial services firms working in the energy industry.
El Paso Energy Corporation is one of the nation’s leading energy service providers. The company owns and operates the nation’s only integrated coast-to-coast natural gas pipeline system and has operations in interstate natural gas transmission, gas gathering and processing, energy marketing, and international infrastructure development.
“We’re pleased to be a major sponsor of UT-Austin’s Center for Energy Finance Education and Research,” said William A. Wise, chairman, president and chief executive officer of El Paso Energy Corporation. “Strengthening ties between business and academia is critical to the success of both institutions. Innovative initiatives such as UT-Austin’s Energy Finance Program are key to strengthening those ties. This program provides unique opportunities for corporate executives to share their expertise with students and for students to gain valuable experience in today’s increasingly complex business environment.”
“Win-win partnerships with companies like El Paso Energy ensure that our programs remain competitive,” adds Dean Robert G. May of the Texas Graduate School of Business. “In this case, together with leading energy companies we are creating an entirely new field of study, preparing our graduates to transition quickly from the academic world to the world of business.”
“The energy industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation causing firms to need more managers with strong finance skills,” says George Gau, chairman of the Department of Finance at UT-Austin. “We’re delighted that El Paso Energy shares with us the vision of establishing the University of Texas as the leading academic center for both research and training in financial applications to the energy business.”
About 50 graduate students were accepted into the Energy Finance program, first offered in fall of 1998. Participating students will devote about one-third of their master’s course work to the study of Energy Finance.
The CEFER also supports two upcoming executive education programs focusing on energy finance that are open to professionals in the energy industry: “Managing Financial Risk in Gas and Power Companies” (April 19-20) and “Valuation of Oil and Gas Contracts and Properties” (April 21). Both programs are offered in Houston. For more information, please contact Texas Executive Education at 512/475-6439 or execed@mccombs.utexas.edu.
For information on specific programs at the McCombs School, consult our contacts page. For media information, contact the Communications Director by phone at 512-471-3314 or by email at CommunicationsDirector@mccombs.utexas.edu.
