A volume on the pricing of gas in international trade. Gas accounts for around 25% of global energy demand and international gas trade is growing rapidly. The book covers the development of international gas pricing in all regions of the world where gas is traded, and considers whether gas could become a global market.
This book provides an overview of the gas industry and markets in the CIS. This region's strategic importance as one of the largest gas producers has largely been ignored- with the exception of Russia. The book is comprised of 10 country chapters, covering production, decision-making and regulation, domestic market reform, and trade issues.
This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book examines how China can increase the share of natural gas in its energy system. China’s energy strategy has global ramifications and impact, and central to this strategy is the country’s transition from coal to gas. The book presents the culmination of a two-year collaboration between the Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC) and Shell. With the Chinese government’s strategic aim to increase the share of gas in the energy mix from 5.8% in 2014 to 10% and 15% in 2020 and 2030 respectively, the book outlines how China can achieve its gas targets. Providing both quantifiable metrics and policy measures for the transition, it is a much needed addition to the literature on Chinese energy policy. The research and the resulting recommendations of this study have fed directly into the Chinese government’s 13th Five-Year Plan, and provide unique insights into the Chinese government and policy-making. Due to its global impact, the book is a valuable resource for policy makers in both China and the rest of the world.
Since its launch in 2001, Gas Trading Manual (GTM) has established itself as the leading information source on the international gas market. Compiled from the contributions of some of the most senior and widely respected figures in the trade, this edition provides detailed and accurate analysis on all aspects of this complex business from the geography of gas through to the markets, trading instruments, contracts, gas pricing, accounting and taxation. This edition further enhances its reputation as the indispensable practical companion for all those involved in the trading of gas.
This paper investigates the response of consumer price inflation to changes in domestic fuel prices, looking at the different categories of the overall consumer price index (CPI). We then combine household survey data with the CPI components to construct a CPI index for the poorest and richest income quintiles with the view to assess the distributional impact of the pass-through. To undertake this analysis, the paper provides an update to the Global Monthly Retail Fuel Price Database, expanding the product coverage to premium and regular fuels, the time dimension to December 2020, and the sample to 190 countries. Three key findings stand out. First, the response of inflation to gasoline price shocks is smaller, but more persistent and broad-based in developing economies than in advanced economies. Second, we show that past studies using crude oil prices instead of retail fuel prices to estimate the pass-through to inflation significantly underestimate it. Third, while the purchasing power of all households declines as fuel prices increase, the distributional impact is progressive. But the progressivity phases out within 6 months after the shock in advanced economies, whereas it persists beyond a year in developing countries.
Many developing and emerging countries do not fully pass-through increases in international fuel prices to domestic retail prices, with adverse consequences for fuel tax revenues and tax volatility. The adoption of an automatic fuel pricing mechanism can help to address this problem, and the incorporation of a price smoothing mechanism can ensure pass-through over the medium term but also avoid sharp increases (and decreases) in domestic prices. This technical note addresses the following issues: (i) the design of an automatic fuel pricing mechanism; (ii) the incorporation of domestic price smoothing and resulting tradeoffs; (iii) the transition from ad hoc pricing adjustments to an automatic mechanism; and (iv) policies to support this transition and the maintenance of an automatic mechanism. A standardized template for simulating and evaluating the implications of alternative pricing mechanisms for price and fiscal volatility is available on request.
International commercial gas sale agreements are often characterised by a duration of twenty years or more. Consequently, when unforeseen events alter market conditions the contractual equilibrium originally found by the parties is disrupted, giving rise to the necessity to renegotiate and adapt the agreement. If negotiation fails, the parties in most cases submit the matter to arbitration. This comprehensive analysis of what can happen under such circumstances proceeds from an in-depth consideration of the power of arbitrators to intervene on the agreement in the light of arbitrability and procedural law. The author fully explains the complex special nature of gas pricing and contract clauses, and takes into account such features as the following, especially in the wake of the 2009 crisis as it affected the gas sector: - take or pay clauses; - mechanisms for gas price calculation; - price review and price re-opener clauses; - hardship provisions; - problems arising from the absence of a specific clause providing for adaptation/adjustment; - effect on contracts of the emergence and development of spot or traded gas markets; and - trend toward introducing spot-market elements into an oil-indexed price formula. The analysis draws on interviews with lawyers and arbitrators who have been involved in recent proceedings regarding gas sale contract adaptations, and also considers court decisions issued in setting aside or enforcing arbitration awards handed down in energy disputes. A central discussion throughout this book is the possible responses to the question of whether it is possible to determine a principle of law justifying the arbitrator’s power to intervene in contract adaptation. All professionals involved in the production, wholesaling, or distribution of gas will find this book indispensable. It will also be of special value to practitioners, policymakers, and regulators in the fields of energy law and environmental law.
This new guide to oil and gas trading aims to fill a gap not currently supplied by other reference books on sale-of-goods law and charters by focusing on the day-to-day realities of trading in the sector. It examines the way in which the oil and gas market operates in practice, taking note of real-life situations that can arise.