LNG

The European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), the body chosen to impose price controls on the natural gas market in the 27-nation EU and replace the benchmark Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) LNG benchmark with its own cargo prices, has issued its first daily gas market correction mechanism (MCM) reference price.

“EU regulations have established a gas MCM to protect against excessively high prices,” explained ACER.

The EU agency said that its MCM reference price was an average of several indexes and marker prices related to liquefied natural gas price trends.

ACER has the authority to calculate and monitor this MCM reference price for the activation of the MCM if need be from February 15 and to publish the MCM reference price on its website every weekday.

However, ACER noted that the price on 1 February 2023 was well under the MCM activation level.

The EU body said its natural gas market price for February 1 was €55.21 euros per megawatt hour, or equivalent to about $17.65 per million British thermal units, meaning that the MCM did not need to be activated.

This ACER price was also less than the prevailing Dutch TTF close on the day which was equivalent to $18.60 per MMBtu.

Under EU price control rules, the MCM is only activated if the front-month TTF derivative settlement price exceeds €180 per megawatt hour, or about $57.50 per MMBtu, for three consecutive working days, and is at least €35 above the MCM reference price for the same period of time.

ACER is also tasked with providing regular daily prices before launching the new European benchmark LNG spot prices at the end of March.

These EU cargo prices would replace the Dutch TTF gas hub price for LNG cargo values.

The TTF was criticised by the European Commission, the EU executive body, for being a “highly volatile” price system in 2022 after Russia cut off pipeline gas deliveries to Europe.

The plan of the EU regulators is to publish a daily delivered ex-ship (DES) price for spot cargoes for North-West Europe (NWE) in euros and in the form of megawatt hours.

LNG cargo prices

EU officials will additionally publish a DES LNG spot cargo price for South Europe, covering nations like Italy and Spain, as well as DES spread data between Northwest Europe and South Europe prices

Intercontinental Exchange, the leading global provider of market platforms for energy futures and options, said it intended to implement the EU”s MCM Regulation and related price cap on Dutch TTF, though it is also planning a London-based TTF trading alternative.

ICE’s Endex, based in the Netherlands and operator of the world’s most liquid trading venue for TTF natural gas futures and options, plans to change its Rulebook to promote compliance with the MCM Regulation, effective February 15, 2023.

“Once the MCM Regulation enters into force, the Rules of ICE Endex will forbid market participants from submitting orders to the exchange order book in TTF derivatives above the price cap when the correction mechanism is activated, unless clients are eligible to make use of the exemptions granted in the Regulation,” explained ICE.

“Therefore, ICE is preparing to launch a parallel market for TTF futures and options contracts on its London-based exchange ICE Futures Europe from February 20, 2023, subject to completion of relevant regulatory processes,” said ICE.

“This will provide market participants with optionality in the event the natural gas price rises, and the risk of the MCM price cap being triggered increases,” said ICE.

Intercontinental Exchange, the leading global provider of market platforms for energy futures and options and other assets, intends to implement the European Union’s Market Correction Mechanism Regulation (MCM Regulation) and related price cap on Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) natural gas derivatives, in time for entry into force of the regulation, though it is also planning a London-based TTF trading alternative.

Intercontinental Exchange, a leading global provider of energy trading platforms for futures and options and which is in the process of launching new LNG futures for Europe, reported strong third-quarter earnings.

June 21 (LNGJ) - The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the leading operator of commodities, futures and share trading platforms, has launched a physical trading product to reflect the change at the Dominion Energy Cove Point LNG facility in Maryland from an import terminal to an export plant. The new Dominion Energy Cove Point product reflects the physical market for natural gas deliveries into the plant for liquefaction and export. The previous Cove Point market, which had been set up for receiving natural gas from LNG imports, was delisted simultaneously by the ICE. The new Cove Point price was last at $3.110 per million British thermal units.

Oct 23 (LNGJ) - Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services, said it completed its acquisition of the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research division’s fixed-income index platform, which will become part of ICE Data Services. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. “We’re excited to expand the breadth and scale of our index offering to give customers increased choice of third-party benchmark solutions,” said Lynn Martin, President and Chief Operating office of ICE Data Services. “With the addition of these indices, we are able to offer a comprehensive portfolio that includes the addition of more than 5,000 global fixed income, currency and commodity indices,” added Martin.

The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the operator of global pricing and clearing for energy and commodities, has made the ICE Endex European pricing and trading platform a fully-owned subsidiary after acquiring the remaining shares held by Dutch natural gas transmission company Gasunie.

US-based global commodities trading platform companies, the Intercontinental Exchange and CME Group, plan to launch liquefied natural gas derivatives and futures based on LNG shipments from the US and competing with products focused on spot LNG and Asian supplies by firms in Singapore and Tokyo.

Intercontinental Exchange, the leading platform for global futures and options trading, announced the results of the ICE Endex natural gas storage auction held on behalf of Netherlands-based GasTerra.