IENE participated in the high-level 25th annual BBSPA Conference, which was held on April 4-5, in Bucharest. IENE was represented by its Head of Research, Mr. Dimitris Mezartasoglou, who attended the Conference and through a presentation on “The Case for a Gas Trading Hub in SE Europe”, he outlined the prevailing situation in Central and SE Europe and presented data which showed the degree of market engagement of the various regional gas hubs currently in operation IENE participated in the high-level 25thannual BBSPA Conference, which was held on April 4-5, in Bucharest. IENE was represented by its Head of Research, Mr. Dimitris Mezartasoglou, who attended the Conference and through a presentation on "The Case for a Gas Trading Hub in SE Europe”, he outlined the prevailing situation in Central and SE Europe and presented data which showed the degree of market engagement of the various regional gas hubs currently in operation in Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania.
As Mr. Mezartasoglou noted in his presentation, "today, there is not a single gas trading hub – under the accepted terminology - in operation east and south east of Vienna, whose Central European Gas Hub (CEGH) could act as a benchmark and pivot for promoting gas trading in the region”. He then went on to portray the differences between the operating 'semi' gas hubs in the region on the basis of the latest 2018 EFET scoreboard. In view of EFET's findings, and the work in progress by Greece’s Gas Independent Transmission System Operator (DESFA), which has established the Hellenic Trading Point (HTP) as virtual trading point with balancing platform, it seems that the HTP is on the way of becoming the region's leading gas trading platform, a position which will be further enhanced by the forthcoming full operation of the Hellenic Energy Exchange (EnEx) later this year.
The BBSPA Conference was attended by representatives from Romania’s Energy Ministry, the Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE), the Bulgarian Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, Norton Rose Fulbright, Osaka Gas, CMS, Deloitte, Lloyd’s Register, Energy Exemplar Europe, Uniper, CEGH, MET Energy Trading Bulgaria, the Atlantic Council, Romanian Petroleum Exploration and Production Companies Association (ROPEPCA), Hellenic Hydrocarbon Resources Management, Gas Connect Austria, MOL Group, Romgaz, Transgaz, among others.
