R--Purchase Order, Research on Energy & Financial Market

U.S. Department of Energy Office of Headquarters Procurement Services 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20585-1615 Contracting Officer: Kyle Krzywicki, MA-642 Subject: Contractor: Michel Robe, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Purchase Order Award Number: DE-EI0002380 Set-Aside: No Notice of Intent Open: August 29, 2014 Close: September 12, 2014 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Energy Information Administration, (EIA), Office of the Assistant Administrator for Energy Analysis, (OEA), plans to issue a purchase order for energy and financial data research from the Commodity Futures Trading Corporation, by Michel Robe. The Government intends to award a sole source, firm-fixed-price purchase order to Michel Robe?s Academic and Financial Consulting (hereafter referred to as ?Michel Robe?). The period of performance for this award will be from September 29, 2014 to September 28, 2016. The principle place of performance will be at the contractor?s facilities. Description: The Government intends to contract with Michel Robe to research energy and financial market activity using data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and provide an understanding of crude price formation during disruption events. This work supports EIA in the area of the Office of Energy Markets & Financial Analysis and DOE?s Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis (EPSA). Professor Michel Robe will perform research on energy and financial market activity using proprietary data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). This research is critical to further develop the Department?s understanding of the factors influencing oil and petroleum product prices. This research is a follow-up study that builds on previous research projects. Professor Michel Robe has done extensive research in the area of futures trading and financial market activity related to commodity price formation and has published several academic papers on this topic. To perform this research, he utilizes detailed trading data that is collected by the CFTC. The data is proprietary and CFTC restricts data access and data use. However, EIA is allowed to access the database at CFTC because EIA has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the CFTC to access such data. Because use of the unaggregated raw data is strictly forbidden, and because there is a large amount of detailed data, to gain understanding and develop an appropriate set of data for the task at hand requires considerable time. Professor Robe has worked extensively with the CFTC. He has been granted approval to access the data and has worked extensively with it. He has a thorough understanding of its use and limitations. He has already spent considerable time preparing or ? cleaning? the data for use in the type of research and analysis EIA and EPSA want to perform. Given EIA?s MOU, such data would be available for research. The combination of experience in financial market and oil price research, access to the proprietary CFTC data, and understanding of and experience using the CFTC data, uniquely qualify Professor Robe for this work. Considerable time and effort would be required for another researcher to acquire the qualifications that Professor Robe already has, including access to the proprietary CFTC, understanding of the detailed CFTC data, and time spent preparing the data for use in research and analysis. No other suppliers will satisfy agency requirements. In accordance with the Competition in Contracting Act, 41 USC 253 [c] [1], as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, other than full and open competition is authorized when there is only one responsible source and no other supplies and services will satisfy agency requirements. This is a notice of intent and no solicitation is available for this requirement. Interested parties may submit capability statement and rationale by September 12, 2014 at 5:00 pm EDT via e-mail to Marceline Miller at: contact@example.gov. The written response must include a general statement for services mentioned in this announcement and past performance client information for similar work. A determination by the Government to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive requirement.