ICIS Adds Hungarian Price Assessments to its Benchmark European Spot Gas Markets Service

LONDON, June 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

ICIS, the leading provider of pricing and market intelligence for the global energy, chemical and fertiliser sectors, has enhanced its European natural gas market coverage with the introduction of price assessments for the Hungarian market.

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This will initially cover the Day-ahead contract, which will be produced on a daily basis, with a Weekend assessment on a Friday.

The introduction of Hungarian assessments will bring additional clarity to a region that has the potential to develop into an important trading area.

Infrastructure improvements in central Europe promise to diversify regional supply, while the ongoing implementation of EU network codes should provide the framework for liberalised energy trading.

By April 2019 all EU member states will have implemented the network code on balancing, which should lead to more trade and increase the need for reference prices.

The region is set to receive volumes from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz II development in 2020 and Romania is positioned to become an exporter of gas in the coming years as it develops untapped fields in the Black Sea.

ICIS has already brought pricing visibility to the Austrian, Czech and Slovakian markets, with the Hungarian assessments adding to that suite of information.

The inaugural Hungarian MGP Day-ahead price on 4 June 2018 was assessed at €22.475/MWh, placing it a premium of €0.20/MWh to the Austrian VTP which is the regional benchmark.

Subscribers to European Spot Gas Markets (ESGM)  will have access to these price assessments via FTP and PDF.

The independent price assessments and indices published by ICIS are some of the most widely traded and referenced benchmarks across the European gas market, enabling participants to manage risk with confidence.

UK power for delivery over the weekend was trading at a ten-year high early on Friday, driven by the cost of firing up gas-fuelled power plants to meet demand amid very high UK gas prices.

ICIS assessed the UK power Weekend Baseload product at £80.00/MWh at Thursday's close of the wholesale electricity market. This was roughly double the average power price for a weekend seen throughout 2017.

The highest single Weekend transaction seen on Thursday was for £81.00/MWh.

In early trade on Friday the same product had softened marginally to change hands at £77.00/MWh, but this remained comfortably the highest Weekend Baseload price since sharp price spikes were seen way back in 2008.

For more information about the Hungarian price assessments, visit: www.icis.com/energy/hungarian-price-assessments/.

About ICIS 

ICIS is the world's largest petrochemical market information provider, with divisions spanning energy and fertilizers. Our aim is to give companies in global commodities markets a competitive advantage by delivering valuable information and analytics tools which enable our customers to identify and react to opportunities in markets which are constantly evolving. We have more than 30 years' of experience in providing pricing intelligence and news, forecast data, market analytics and independent consulting to buyers, sellers and analysts.

With a global staff of more than 600, ICIS has employees based in London, Houston, New York, Singapore, Dubai, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Mumbai, Tokyo, Karlsruhe, and Milan. ICIS' team of journalists is engaged in reporting market prices and news, and ICIS is fully committed to upholding the highest journalistic principles of verification, corroboration and authentication. ICIS has a compliance framework that along with its methodologies and business processes adheres to the requirements of the IOSCO PRA Principles.

ICIS is a division of Reed Business Information, part of RELX Group.

About Reed Business Information 

Reed Business Information (RBI) is a fast-growth provider of information and analytics, solving critical problems for businesses globally. Our strong global products and services hold leading positions across a wide range of industry sectors including finance, agriculture, petrochemicals and aviation where we help customers make key strategic decisions every day. RBI is part of RELX Group, a global provider of information and analytics for professional customers across industries. http://www.reedbusiness.com

About RELX Group 

RELX Group is a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. The Group serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs approximately 30,000 people of whom almost half are in North America. RELX PLC is a London listed holding company which owns 52.9% of RELX Group. RELX NV is an Amsterdam listed holding company which owns 47.1% of RELX Group. The shares are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX and RENX. Total market capitalisation is approximately £33.1bn|€37.7bn|$44.3bn. www.relx.com

Media contacts
Tom Marzec-Manser
Editor, European Spot Gas Markets
tom.marzec-manser@icis.com
Mobile: +44-7795-400-753
Tel: +44-20-7911-1964

Ben Wetherall
Head of Gas
ben.wetherall@icis.com  
Tel: +44-20-7911-1786