GENEVA, Switzerland, August 18, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Mercuria Energy trading announced today that it has acquired a River Barge business in Colombia. It was purchased from the leading Colombia company Argos. The barges will be used to transport coal and other commodities along the river Magdalena to leverage across its trading business. This is an important step for Mercuria in developing its coal business and also significant in improving Colombia's logistical requirements in order to increase its competitiveness.

Mercuria has also opened a trading office in Bogota.

The Head of Mercuria Coal Juan Houlin stated "This is a very important entry point for us into the Colombian market. We would like to develop the river transport logistics in Colombia which will allow us to grow our business in this important market. We are very optimistic about the future of Colombia and see it as an important country for our company now and especially in the coming years across all our commodity products."