OPCOM starts DAM-NG transactions

According to the press release issued by the operator of the electricity and natural gas market in Romania, a first trading session took place on 31 July on the Day Ahead Market for Natural Gas (DAM-NG) managed by OPCOM for gas delivery on 1 August.

DAM-NG provides market participants with the possibility to adjust the trading portfolios of market participants and diminish and/or eliminate situations of imbalance of network users due to actual situations in the market and in the performance of contractual forward commitments.

Compared to experience held over the past 10 years in managing short-term transactions with electricity, ensuring the role of counterparty, OPCOM provides the role of counterparty for all transactions carried out on the Day Ahead Market for Natural Gas, making available for trading participants both the tools necessary to make payments related to natural gas purchased or to collect the equivalent value of natural gas sold, through the central account of the market for which the related services are made available by Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), based on the good experience in carrying out this mechanism over the 10 years of collaboration between BCR and OPCOM, and the service of automatic notification by SNTGN Transgaz SA of transactions performed, in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Network Code for gas transmission.

So far compliant documents have been submitted by 6 economic operators (E.ON Energie, Engie, Hunt Oil Company of Romania, OMV Petrom Gas, OMV Petrom, Romgaz), which have been registered and can formulate offers in the market.

During the trading session that took place according to the schedule established during 10:00 – 15:00 (on 31 July), 3 of the participants registered in the market were connected to the trading system, sellers and buyers, according to rights held based on documents submitted for participation to the market.

“The information protocols and the applications implemented for the integrated functioning of the Day Ahead Market for Natural Gas were fully functional, which provides services made available through the collaboration between SNTGN Transgaz SA and OPCOM with a high degree of professionalism and market participants with the certainty of a reliable trading mechanism, aimed to contribute to establish the reference price of natural gas traded in the Virtual Trading Point of the National Natural Gas Transmission System,” the quoted document mentions.

Also, the Romanian Commodities Exchange (BRM) has announced the implementation of the Gas Day-Ahead platform, intended to the SPOT market, fulfilling the role of central counterparty and using the same central account bank – Banca Comerciala Romana, through the direct debit and payment guarantee mechanisms.