UK, Dutch Remain Europe's Top Hubs, ICE Makes Inroads at NBP

摘要

Liquidity on Europe's two most mature and traded natural gas hubs, the UK's National Balancing Point (NBP) and Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), still far exceeds that of their nearest rivals. Volumes on the NBP, also used in some international LNG pricing, have fallen over the past 18 months, but not by as much as UK gas demand. Total traded volume in 2013 was 1.1 trillion-1.4 trillion cubic meters (40 trillion-50 trillion cubic feet), depending whose figures are used, or 14 to 18 times greater than underlying physical gas sales — a ratio known as the "chum rate."