The new group has been launched to support the two firms' ongoing energy hedge fund research and service offerings. The online community is designed to provide a facility to share articles and information on energy hedge funds and provide a vehicle for further research and analysis.

"We are now seeing a fundamental change in the structure of energy trading through the activities of hedge funds, investment banks and multinational oil companies," said Peter Fusaro, chairman of New York-based Global Change Associates Inc. "This new 'triangle of energy trading' is accelerating financialization of these important markets."