Launched on Monday, the platform - set up by the Indian Energy
Exchange - has so far traded 100 mmBtu gas.
At a time when the
price of domestic natural gas is as low as $2.39 per million metric British
thermal unit (mmBtu), the Indian
Gas Exchange (IGX) — the country’s first natural gas exchange — has got a
market-discovered price of $4.07 per unit within the first two days of
operation.
Launched on Monday, the platform — set up by the Indian Energy Exchange — has so far traded 100 mmBtu gas.
Giving major boost
to IGX, big liquefied
natural gas (LNG) players like state-run GAIL (India) and Petronet LNG have
joined the exchange as members. Private sector majors like Adani Gas, too, have
joined IGX as its member partner.
“We have brought
in 12 members and over 350 clients so far. GAIL and Petronet have joined as our
members,” said Rajiv Srivastava, managing director and chief executive officer,
IEX.
Other members of
the platform include Manikaran Power, GMR Energy Trading, Zak Venture, Kreate
Energy, Gita Power and Infrastructure, Abja Power, Arunachal Pradesh Power
Corporation, Andhra Pradesh Gas Power Corporation, and Instinct Infra and
Power.
Trade members
facilitate trade on the exchange on behalf of their clients. They act as the
link between the exchange and the clients registered on the exchange.
A source indicated
that 100 mmBtu of overall trade was for daily contracts only, even though there
were bids for fortnightly and monthly contracts as well. The market-discovered
price for first two days was Rs 309 per mmBtu or $4.07 per mmBtu. The exchange
is LNG-driven, while the price of domestically produced natural gas is notified
by the government. At present, the domestic natural gas price is at $2.39 per
mmBtu, which most producers, including Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, have cited
as unviable.
