Development of trading hubs in Europe started slowly with the creation of Great Britain's National Balancing Point (NBP) in 1996 as a direct result of the introduction of the Network Code. However, the liberalization of the gas market in other European countries has led, over the past several years, to the development of many other trading hubs, including in Belgium (Zee-Hub), in the Netherlands (TTF), in Italy (PSV), in France (PEGs), and in Germany (Eurohub). Other incipient markets are starting to develop on the Austrian-Slovakian border (CEGH) and in Denmark (GTF), while in Spain gas swaps are often made at LNG ports.

In this article from the September 2005 issue of Gas Actual, the authors analyze the current situation of the various gas trading hubs throughout Europe. The authors note that, despite the proliferation of natural gas hubs in Europe, at present only the NBP shows the volume of gas traded and liquidity necessary to be considered as a gas price marker.

This article is available in Spanish only.