Russia's state gas monopoly OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) is planning to create what it says will become Europe's largest gas trading platform, the Kommersant daily reported Monday, citing unnamed sources in the industry.
The exchange, which Gazprom is planning together with its banking arm Gazprombank and the existing MBNK gas exchange established in 2002, will be created on the basis of St. Petersburg's SPBEX stock exchange.
To begin with, it will mainly trade one-year gas futures, Kommersant said.
The MBNK exchange traded only 10 billion cubic meters of gas last year.