ENTSOG South-North Corridor GRIP 2017 - Main Report

3.4 Market Analysis

In the following section the Regional market developments have been analysed reporting the trends of the national hubs in term of evolutions of traded volumes between 2013 and 2015, first individually and later on aggregate scale. The section is concluded with a price correlation survey extended to other main EU hubs (TTF and NBP) where the main trends and possible explanations related to evolution of prices among hubs and between gas and other energy commodities are reported.

3.4.1 MARKET DEVELOPMENT

The gas hubs covered in this SNC GRIP have continued to experience growth in traded volumes and number of transactions over the past years, despite an overall decrease in the demand for gas. Furthermore, the region has also made great strides in terms of increasing market integration and liquidity, thus becoming one of the main drivers behind the implementation of the European Gas Target Model (GTM). First developed at the 18th Madrid Forum in 2011, the January 2015 revised GTM presents the regulators’ vision for a competitive and secure European gas market. Means of achieving this goal include the development of liquid virtual trading points, increased market integration, and diversification of upstream gas suppliers. The following paragraphs show the trends of the South-North Corridor gas hubs. The physical hub Zeebrugge Beach in Belgium is also one of the most mature hubs on the continent. It serves as a gateway to Europe for gas coming in from Norway, the United Kingdom, and LNG from the Zeebrugge LNG Terminal. As of the end of 2015, it has also been connected to the Dunkirk LNG terminal, commissioned in 2016 in France. The ZTP (the virtual Zeebrugge Trading Point) has continued to grow since its inception in October 2012. In October 2015, ZTP became the gas trading point for the new BeLux balancing zone, the integrated gas market for Belgium and Luxembourg.

3.4.1.1 Belgium and Luxembourg

%

%

% growth of traded volumes from 2013

% growth of traded volumes from 2013

300

140

120

250

100

200

80

150

60

100

40

50

20

0

0

2013

2014

2015

2013

2014

2015

Traded Volumes Figure 3.25: Growth of ZTP traded volumes from 2013 (Source: Huberator.com)

Traded Volumes Figure 3.24: Growth of Zeebrugge Beach traded volumes from 2013 (Source: IHS Energy European gas hub tracker)

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South-North Corridor GRIP 2017