Universidad Pontificia Comillas. Madrid (Spain)
November 15th, 2013
Summary:
During the last years, natural gas has been acquiring importance in the world energy mix. As the cleanest fossil fuel, it is a good alternative to tackle with the climate change without realizing huge investments. Moreover, recent developments in extraction technology, i.e., the famed shale gas, have greatly reduced gas prices boosting the gasification process. Traditionally, the gas business activities have been classified in the upstream and downstream segments. The latter segment groups those activities mainly related to the production, while the transportation and consumption are included in the former segment. The thesis focuses on the analysis of the downstream gas market, but without leaving aside the upstream segment which conditions the gas industry significantly. In detail, and in the context of liberalized gas markets, we show how companies operate and contract for capacity in gas facilities, manage their supply contracts, and utilize LNG carriers to arbitrage between distant markets. Furthermore, we evaluate the performance of organized markets on which European authorities rely to achieve the Single European market. Finally, we examine the influence of gas market decisions (gas purchases and pipeline capacity contracting) in electric power market results under uncertainty.
Citation:
P. Dueñas (2013), Analysis of the operation and contract management in downstream natural gas markets. Universidad Pontificia Comillas. Madrid (Spain).
