Energy bourse EEX to start financial gas futures on June 28

European Energy Exchange AG

04/05/2021 11:47

FRANKFURT, May 4 (Reuters) - The European Energy Exchange
(EEX) is to trade an expanded gas derivatives portfolio from
June 28, the bourse said in a statement on Tuesday, confirming a
Reuters interview in March when it mapped out a mid-year
start. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2KV6LR
    The new cash-settled gas futures products will offer its
over 700 trading participants risk hedging in both gas and
electricity, the latter being the Deutsche Boerse  DB1Gn.DE 
subsidiary's best known flagship contracts.
    The new contracts will be listed on the Dutch (TTF),
Austrian (CEGH) and German (NCG) markets and settled against the
European Gas Spot Index (EGSI), also giving a closer alignment
between gas spot and futures, EEX said.
    EEX holds over 60% of market share in the Dutch, German,
Austrian and French gas spot markets, from which it developed
the EGSI.
    The new tools will be helpful as energy operators accelerate
their withdrawal from coal use, which necessitates new cost
calculations between prices of gas, carbon emissions permits
and, increasingly, unsubsidised renewable power. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2MR0CJ
    Customers will be able to trade the price differential
between gas and power futures via so-called spark spreads, which
are power generation margins for gas burning. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2MR0CJ
    So far, the EEX offers only physically settled gas futures,
which are useful for industry operators but less attractive for
pure financial players, who now will gain better access.
    "EGSI futures will eliminate the burden of physical
fulfilment while aligning with the standards of the highly
liquid power markets," said EEX chief strategy officer Tobias
Paulun.
    As continental Europe's biggest power futures exchange and
after successful forays into North America and Asia, the bourse
can increasingly draw on scale and synergies between products
and time zones.

 (Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
 ((vera.eckert@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 2201 33654;
@EckertVera;))