Portuguese gas products launched on Iberian MIBGAS exchange for physical delivery

London — Natural gas trade for physical delivery into Portugal was launched March 16 with near-term products now available to market participants, Iberian exchange MIBGAS said in a statement March 16.

The near-term delivery products for physical delivery into Portugal will begin with within-day, day-ahead, and weekend contracts, with balance-of-month and monthly contracts set to be introduced later, MIBGAS said.

"The entry of MIBGAS into Portugal is an important step towards the development of the Iberian natural gas market, contributing not only to an increase in competition and business transparency but also to scaling up the number of participants and the liquidity of the gas market," the exchange said.

Market participants will have to sign a contract to adhere to the Portuguese rules as well as requiring to be authorized by REN as users of the Portuguese gas system.

Liquidity on the MIBGAS exchange stood at a total of 12.213 TWh during the first two months of 2021, an increase of 84% on an annual basis and already close to the 13.421 TWh seen during the whole of 2017, data from MIBGAS showed.