HOUSTON, Jan 27 (dbusiness.com) -- International Energy Partners today launched a preview of NRGLine.com, a third party, online brokerage service for energy products, feedstocks, LPG and petrochemicals trading.

International Energy Partners is a Houston-based, limited liability energy brokerage firm.

What makes NRGLine.com different from other online trading sites is that it is the first third-party Web-based trading system for refined oil products, according to Steve Leahy, co-founder of International Energy Partners.

In regard to the refined oil product line, Leahy told dbusiness.com he had no knowledge of any competitors. However, he named Houston-based Altra Energy Technologies' Altrade, San Francisco-based ChemConnect.com and Houston's CheMatch.com as competitors in terms of the other products offered for trade on the NRGLine.com site.

Leahy said the site will go live in early February but for now, it is in a preview stage with companies such as Conoco, Shell and ExxonMobil making and accepting postings on a simulated basis.

He emphasized that NRGLine.com will not replace his company's existing brokering services but instead "comes in response to our clients' quest for faster, cheaper and more reliable ways to make money trading petroleum and related products."

Leahy would not reveal the company's cost of designing and developing NRGLine.com.

The site was co-designed by Leahy and Houston's CYNET (NASDAQ:CYNE. In addition to its design work, CYNET Interactive, the Internet division of CYNET, developed all the technology on the site.

The system is powered by software developed by Tom Ren, vice President and director of CYNET Interactive. The system has built-in features including product regrades, location sorting and timed and instant cancellation of postings.

CYNET's messaging system will add the ability to instantly confirm trades and send faxes and e-mails as business is concluded. The company, which only recently began trading on the Nasdaq, is in the process of raising $150 million to develop more Internet services, wireless technologies and database services.

International Energy Partners and CYNET are also currently planning a joint venture to provide all major OTC commodities markets with online trading systems similar to NRGLine.com, Leahy said.

Meanwhile, Leahy told dbusiness.com that although International Energy Partners is the sole owner of NRGLine.com, the company is seeking outside investors.

"We don't have IPO stars in our eyes yet, but we definitely want to grow," he said.

The company plans to earn commissions from trades on the site as well as charging users a subscription fee of several hundred dollars a month for read-only access, Leahy said.

Accessing the site on a "read-only" basis will likely be attractive mainly to customers in Western Europe, South America and Southeast Asia who just want to monitor North American prices.

And, by being the only site to trade high volume products like gasoline, jet fuel and distillates such as heating oil and diesel fuel, the site should be able to earn alot of income from commissions, Leahy said.

He said, "We definitely want to go after the bigger volume products."

International Energy Partners was founded 18 months ago by Leahy and his partner, Bob Josephs.