More about Fluxys Belgium’s gas trading services merger

Fluxys Belgium is to merge its existing gas trading services ‘ZTP physical’ and ‘ZTP notional’ on 1 October 2023 (see our press release). If still in doubt about the process, check our FAQ.

Why the merger?

Belgium is one of the few geographies with several exchange hubs: ZEE (‘ZTP physical’) and ZTP (‘ZTP notional’). Created in 1999, the physical Zeebrugge hub ZEE lost most of its liquidity over the last years and the market finds that it no longer fulfils its role.

Early this year Fluxys held a consultation on the merger of the ZEE and ZTP hubs as from 1 October 2023. With a single exception, all market participants had positive or no remarks, both in terms of scope and timing.

Energy regulator CREG approved the proposal on 26 May 2023 and confirmed the merger to go ahead on 1 October 2023 (see decision (B)2551on CREG website).

Will my existing capacity on the Interconnection Point (IP) Zeebrugge become stranded?

After the merger, all existing capacities remain unchanged and can be used to access ZTP via IP Zeebrugge, a hub where the liquidity is increasing year after year and where the ZTP index was on average 14% lower than the Dutch TTF index in 2022, thanks to the Belgian grid's good connections to all sources for the Northwest European market.

IP Zeebrugge remains a bookable point and available capacity can be booked on a “first come first served” basis.

The “ZeePlatform” service allowing a shipper to switch flows between the IPs in the Zeebrugge area (IZT, ZPT, ZEE, Zeebrugge LNG terminal) is still available and continues to be the perfect solution for bringing molecules from different sources and moving them between markets (NBP, ZTP).

With the disappearance of ZEE, existing contracts might need to go through a re-indexation process. Will a new index be published and by whom?

In its communication dated 1 August 2023 ICIS confirmed its intention to start publishing Belgian Zeebrugge Day-ahead, Weekend and Month+1 implied transitional assessments until at least 1 October 2024 (see ICIS communication).

In case of additional questions, feel free to contact us.