Regulation and Economic Volatility Driving Demand for Risk Management in Energy Sector, Says Aon

CHICAGO, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Commodity price risk, along with regulatory and legislative changes, are keeping risk managers in the energy sector awake at night, according to Aon's 2010 U.S. Energy Industry Report released today. Economic volatility in the energy sector drives capital investment and expense management strategies within each firm and risk management strategies have to support the new objectives and priorities. The report also indicates that this uncertainty and an increased focus from regulators are the most important external drivers to strengthen risk management within organizations.

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The report was created by Aon Analytics and Aon's energy specialty practice to help oil, gas and mining industry clients benchmark their risk programs and identify methodologies to improve the effectiveness of risk management strategies.

Bruce Jefferis, CEO of Aon Energy, said, "Today's energy environment is impacted by a wide range of risks, and the ability to manage them effectively is critical to success. Those who have the tools and resources to make more informed risk decisions will produce better results for stakeholders."

Highlights of the 2010 Aon U.S. Energy Industry Report, broken out in the report's three main components:

Client and Market Insights:

• Financial stability is the highest priority for energy companies when choosing an insurance carrier. Companies are looking for more flexibility from carriers as well as the ability to secure lower premiums due to risk management practices in place.
• Companies with significant Gulf of Mexico windstorm exposure have experienced the greatest volatility in premiums and retentions, particularly following Hurricane Ike. Aon expects significant downward pressure on premiums this year following the sharp increases last year.
• Aside from property accounts with natural catastrophe exposures, the majority of energy companies have maintained the same deductible/retention for property, casualty and directors' and officers' liability.
• Companies purchasing D&O coverage will continue to reevaluate current limits and may elect to take advantage of the current market conditions by purchasing somewhat higher traditional limits as well as adding or increasing broad form A-side limits.

Risk Insights:

• According to a survey of energy industry respondents, the lowest state of risk preparedness has been seen in the areas of climate change, political risk/uncertainties and talent attraction/retention.
• Leading the list of top ten risks where respondents experienced related losses are exchange rate fluctuation, political risk/uncertainties and commodity price risk.

Financial Insights:

• The essential driver of the energy sector's financial health is the price of energy, a consequence of the prevailing and expected supply and demand fundamentals.
• The performance of Aon's index of 168 publicly listed energy sector companies' stock prices closely mirrored that of the market recovery and outperformed the S&P by nearly 15 percent.

Methodology: This report is based on data from Aon's 2009 Global Risk Management Survey, Aon Global Risk Insight Platform®, Q3 '09 Quarterly Market Overview, Q3' 09 Quarterly D&O Pricing Index and other proprietary databases. Aon Analytics collected and tabulated the results, and worked with Aon's energy practice to develop the analysis and interpret findings.

To access Aon's 2010 U.S. Energy Industry Report visit: http://www.aon.com/energyindustryreport

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About Aon

Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON) is the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human capital consulting. Through its more than 36,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon delivers distinctive client value via innovative and effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions. Aon's industry-leading global resources and technical expertise are delivered locally through more than 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Named the world's best broker by Euromoney magazine's 2008 and 2009 Insurance Survey, Aon also ranked highest on Business Insurance's listing of the world's largest insurance brokers based on commercial retail, wholesale, reinsurance and personal lines brokerage revenues in 2008 and 2009. A.M. Best deemed Aon the number one insurance broker based on brokerage revenues in 2007, 2008 and 2009, and Aon was voted best insurance intermediary, best reinsurance intermediary and best employee benefits consulting firm in 2007, 2008 and 2009 by the readers of Business Insurance. For more information on Aon, log onto http://www.aon.com.

SOURCE Aon Corporation