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Does the European natural gas market pass the competitive benchmark of the theory of storage? Indirect tests for three major trading points

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  • Stronzik, Marcus
  • Rammerstorfer, Margarethe
  • Neumann, Anne

Abstract

This paper presents the first comparative analysis of the relationship between natural gas storage utilization and price patterns at three major European trading points. Using two indirect tests developed by (Fama and French, 1987) and (Fama and French, 1988) that are applied in other commodity markets, we impose the no arbitrage condition to model the efficiency of the natural gas market. The results reveal that while operators of European storage facilities realize seasonal arbitrage profits, substantial arbitrage potentials remain. We suggest that the indirect approach is well suited to provide market insights for periods with limited data. We find that overall market performance differs substantially from the competitive benchmark of the theory of storage.

Suggested Citation

  • Stronzik, Marcus & Rammerstorfer, Margarethe & Neumann, Anne, 2009. "Does the European natural gas market pass the competitive benchmark of the theory of storage? Indirect tests for three major trading points," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5432-5439, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:37:y:2009:i:12:p:5432-5439
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    Cited by:

    1. Nick, Sebastian, 2013. "Price Formation and Intertemporal Arbitrage within a Low-Liquidity Framework: Empirical Evidence from European Natural Gas Markets," EWI Working Papers 2013-14, Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI).
    2. Julien Chevallier, 2010. "Modelling the convenience yield in carbon prices using daily and realized measures," Working Papers halshs-00463921, HAL.
    3. Nick, Sebastian & Thoenes, Stefan, 2014. "What drives natural gas prices? — A structural VAR approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 517-527.
    4. Omura, Akihiro & Todorova, Neda & Li, Bin & Chung, Richard, 2015. "Convenience yield and inventory accessibility: Impact of regional market conditions," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 1-11.
    5. Sebastian Nick, 2016. "The Informational Efficiency of European Natural Gas Hubs: Price Formation and Intertemporal Arbitrage," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    6. Oleg Kucher & Alexander Kurov, 2014. "Business cycle, storage, and energy prices," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(4), pages 217-226, November.

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