David Long is a Partner in Oxford Petroleum Research Associates (Opra) and specialises in the operation and development of oil and gas markets. He is a regular contributor to newsletters published by Petroleum Argus Ltd, and research reports published by the Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES) in London. His interests include the development and application of new trading techniques in the oil and gas industries and he has been involved in the preparation of training material on swaps and options and development of computer software for analysing oil price behaviour. David began his career with BP in 1977, where he worked in Corporate Planning and Supply Departments. He spent two years… on secondment at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, studying the development of forward paper markets in oil, before joining the institute as a Research Fellow from 1986 to 1989.