STAMFORD, Conn., Feb. 7, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Sempra Commodities, the commodity-marketing unit of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE), today announced an agreement with New Hope Partners, a renewable energy developer, to create a joint venture focused on ethanol production in the United States. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Sempra Commodities, which is among five largest natural gas marketers in North America, has extensive experience in marketing energy commodities and associated risk-management products and services.
"As the United States embraces the development of all forms of renewable energy, we expect the ethanol market to grow rapidly and be a significant component of our nation's energy mix over the next decade," said Tammy Norman, vice president of business development for Sempra Commodities.
Ethanol is a non-toxic, water-soluble and quickly biodegradable fuel that, when blended into gasoline, is effective in reducing motor-vehicle emissions. Nearly 3 billion gallons of ethanol are consumed in the United States annually. Approximately one-third of all U.S. gasoline contains some ethanol content.
New Hope Partners will take the lead on siting and developing the production facilities, while Sempra Commodities will market the ethanol and provide risk-management services. The partners expect the new joint venture to begin operations in the second quarter of 2005.
New Hope Partners LLC, based in Newtown, Pa., is a business development, capitalization and strategic execution specialist with a core focus in value-added, agricultural and renewable-energy-based start-up ventures. New Hope is presently active in the ethanol and related co-products industry throughout the United States and proactively seeks to use state-of-the-art business strategies and structures in developing businesses and related capital structures. New Hope's principals have extensive executive management, finance and business operations experience. New Hope is affiliated with Chartworth Capital LLC, a registered broker-dealer and a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).
Based in Stamford, Conn., Sempra Commodities (formerly Sempra Energy Trading) is a leading participant in marketing and trading physical and financial commodity products, including natural gas, power, petroleum products and base metals.
Sempra Commodities combines trading and risk-management experience with physical-commodity expertise to provide innovative solutions for its customers worldwide.
Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2003 revenues of $7.9 billion. The Sempra Energy companies' 13,000 employees serve more than 10 million customers in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, South America and Asia.