This morning, OMV Executive Board Member Werner Auli, Vienna Stock Exchange executive board member Heinrich Schaller and board chairman of CEGH AG, Harald Wüstrich, opened the international futures trading market on the CEGH Gas Exchange of Wiener Börse. With this step, the Central European Gas Hub (CEGH) is now the only European gas hub to offer its customers a “one-stop shop” for a full range of gas trading services. It provides both over-the-counter (OTC) and exchange trading services in cooperation with international partners. The CEGH has therefore been able to take a further important step towards becoming an interna-tional hub and gateway for gas trading in Central and Eastern Europe. This will improve market competition and represents a further step towards market liberalisation.
The Central European Gas Hub is already one of the largest OTC gas trading platforms in Continental Europe and provides its customers with easy access to gas trading markets. The gas turnover volume of the more than 110 registered participants will reach a volume of more than 30 bcm this year. On the CEGH, more than four times as much gas will be traded this year than is typically consumed by Austria annually. Thanks to the successful launch of the futures market of the CEGH Gas Exchange of Wiener Börse, the volume traded via the CEGH will increase even further.
For OMV, the expansion of gas trading activities will also strengthen its gas logistics business. “Strength-ened by the direct access to the infrastructure of the OMV distribution centre in Baumgarten and the resulting connection to important transit pipeline systems and extensive storage capacity, the CEGH fulfils all prerequisites for a modern energy trading centre,” stressed Werner Auli, OMV Executive Board Member in charge of Gas & Power. The cooperation between CEGH and the Vienna Stock Exchange will also further strengthen the role of the Baumgarten compression station, which is 100% owned by OMV, as a physical gas hub for central Europe. As it stands, around a third of all Russian gas exports already flows to Western Europe via the OMV compressor station in Baumgarten.
Short-term gas trading volumes are an important complement to long-term delivery contracts and ensure competition on the liberalised energy market.
“The launch of the futures market on the CEGH Gas Exchange of Wiener Börse enables us to expand our product range in the energy sector and provides us with an important strategic position in the gas market,” said Heinrich Schaller, member of the board of Wiener Börse AG and CEESEG Aktiengesell-schaft.
“The start of futures trading represents the highest degree of standardisation in trading and complements the well-established OTC market, meaning that the entire spectrum of exchange trading services is now available,” added Harald Wüstrich, board chairman of CEGH AG.
Trading on the futures market of the CEGH Gas Exchange of Wiener Börse will be carried out via the stock exchange’s EUREX® system. The cash market is run using the XETRA® system. With regard to exchange trading, CEGH is responsible for market and customer care, while Wiener Börse is responsible for monitoring trading activity, publishing prices and keeping operational control of the exchange trading systems. The exchange trading on the CEGH Gas Exchange of Wiener Börse is subject to strict laws and controls under stock exchange law. This ensures that trading is clearly structured and regimented and minimises the risk for all parties.
The handling of exchange business is carried out in two stages: the financial settlement and clearing is carried out by European Commodity Clearing AG (ECC) in Leipzig; the physical settlement is carried out via the CEGH trading points.