European Commodity Clearing AG (ECC) will provide clearing and settlement for the natural gas exchange in Austria which is scheduled to be launched in autumn 2009.
Trading will be executed through the exchange systems of the Vienna Stock Exchange. The Central European Gas Hub (CEGH) will be the delivery point.
CEGH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of OMV Gas & Power GmbH. It provides international gas corporations with a platform for the settlement of natural gas trading activities in Baumgarten and other border points of the Austrian transmission system (e.g. Oberkappel, Überackern). In 2008, CEGH managed to achieve a trade volume of 15 billion m³ and establish itself as one of the biggest gas hubs in Continental Europe. Subject to the approval under competition law to be granted by the European Commission, CEGH is to be developed into the biggest gas hub in Continental Europe and equipped with gas exchange functionalities in addition in co-operation with Gazprom, Centrex and the Vienna Stock Exchange in the future.
"We look forward to the co-operation with ECC", Harald Wüstrich, Chief Executive Officer of CEGH AG, emphasises and adds: "With this step we lay the foundation for the successful development of standardised natural gas trading in Central Europe".
"The established clearing infrastructure of ECC provides protection against default risks and safeguards secure and efficient settlement of the transactions for our trading participants. Moreover, the trading participants can benefit in particular from the advantages of integrated clearing across other markets which are provided by ECC", Heinrich Schaller, CEO of the Vienna Stock Exchange, explains.
"The decision to commission ECC as the clearing house for the new natural gas exchange again testifies to the attractiveness of ECC as the leading clearing house for the European energy market", Dr. Christoph Mura, Chief Operating Officer of ECC AG, comments.