INSTITUTIONAL PRECONDITIONS AND GENESIS OF NATURAL GAS EXCHANGE TRADING

Abstract

Natural gas is one of the world's leading sources of primary energy, and gas exchanges are key players in the natural gas market, which ensure its functioning on a liberal basis. Given the current liberalization trends, exchange trading in natural gas is gaining momentum and importance in this market. The main objective of the study was to determine the institutional preconditions and the main stages of the genesis of the exchange segment of natural gas trade. The study showed that gas exchanges and gas hubs are the key institutions of natural gas exchange trading, as they ensure openness and transparency of the market. As a result of the study, the author identified the following institutional prerequisites for the creation of gas exchanges: the need to form a competitive gas market and ensure its availability to third parties, ensuring transparent pricing and setting the market price for gas, simplification of trade procedures and standardization of products, protection of the execution of agreements and limitation of risks, which is manifested in the security and reliability of supplies and increasing the energy security of the state. Identifying the stages of the evolution of natural gas exchange trading, the author distinguished gas trading on mixed commodity exchanges, gas trading on universal and specialized energy exchanges, which began to emerge slowly in the 1990s, and gas market liberalization, accompanied by a boom in the creation of gas exchanges and gas hubs. The recession of 2008-2009, the shale gas revolution, the process of decarbonization of the economy and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia have been the main catalysts for the modern transformation of the natural gas market in recent decades. The author concludes that the latter will significantly affect the natural gas market in the coming years, which will lead to a revision of European policy in this area and the struggle for energy security. This paper is an original scientific study of the evolution of natural gas exchange trading and makes a certain contribution to the study of the peculiarities of the gas market functioning.