Austrian oil and gas giant OMV AG (OMV.VI) and the Vienna Stock Exchange Friday launched a new gas trading exchange that they see as a first step toward a wider continental European gas trading platform. The Wiener Boerse and the Central European Gas Hub--a wholly owned unit of OMV--said in a joint statement they had begun offering gas spot contracts, with future contracts to be offered from spring 2010. Trading is executed through the XETRA exchange system of the Vienna Stock Exchange, with the delivery point at CEGH's Baumgarten gas hub on
Austria's eastern border. The CEGH will be responsible for the market and customer relationship management, while overall market supervision will be with the Vienna Stock Exchange.
Baumgarten is already a major transit point for deliveries of Russian gas into western Europe, handling around one third of the total volume. But its role could grow even more important if it becomes the end point for the European Union-backed Nabucco pipeline, as planned. The start of trading on the spot market "sets another milestone for the creation of a European gas market and considerably strengthens the energy trading sector in
Austria," said Austrian Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner.
It was a major step forward in the liberalization of the Austrian gas market as it would "further improve the security of gas supply for customers based on market-oriented measures," the minister said. Wiener Boerse is to take a 20% stake in CEGH and board member Heinrich Schaller said the gas exchange "secures for both of us one of the most important positions for the future gas market at a regional and a European level." The CEGH also plans to launch a gas futures market in the spring of 2010, pending regulatory approval, offering monthly, quarterly, seasonal and yearly futures