The annual European Gas Conference was once again held in the city of Vienna from January 28-30 with more than 300 delegates attending this leading energy event considered to be one of the most influential and trend setting industry gatherings in Europe.The annual European Gas Conference was once again held in the city of Vienna from January 28-30 with more than 300 delegates attending this leading energy event considered to be one of the most influential and trend setting industry gatherings in Europe. Industry leaders such as Gazprom, Equinor, Uniper, OMV, RWW, Cheniere, Snam, Fluxys, Edison, Gas Strategies, Poyry, TAP and several others presented their latest activities and offered their insight on market development and prospects in view of the ever changing global and European demand and supply situation. Senior figures from the IEA, EIB and the European Commision were also there to outline the regulatory and investment framework within which markets operate and also describe the main challenges which lie ahead.
The Executive Director of IENE Mr.Costis Stambolis was invited by the organizers to open the panel discussion on regional gas trading prospects by presentingthe situation in Central and SE Europe concerning gas trading and the role of the region's nascent gas trading hubs and also participate in the panel discussion among some of the region's top experts. Through a concise presentation on " The Case for a Gas Trading Hub in SE Europe", Costis Stambolis 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, Ukraine and Romania.
As Stambolis noted in his presentation "today, there is not a single gas trading hub- underthe accepted terminology- in operation east and south east of Vienna, whose 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 the Independent Greek Transmission Operator (DESFA) which has established the Hellenic Trading Point (HTP) as virtual trading point with balancing point 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 full power point presentation can be found under the presentation section of this site)
Following short presentations by the rest of the panel participants a lively discussion took place on the challenges facing the region, as gas becomes a more widely traded energy commodity and as suppliers,traders and customers need to have access to reliable trading platforms which can branch out to meet increased requirements. The other panel contributors included Mr.Gottfried Steiner, CEO of CEGH, Mr.David Viduna, Head of Origination at CEZ, Mr.Janez Kopac, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat and Matthew Drinkwater, Senior Editor of European Gas, Power and LNG at Argus who very capably moderated the session.
