MOSCOW, October 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russia began Friday trading gas stocks on the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX).
"This is a big step in the processes of forming market approaches, reference prices for our consumers and independent [gas] producers," SPIMEX chairman Igor Sechin said at an opening ceremony. Sechin, who also heads energy giant Rosneft, added that his company would take part in gas deliveries for the exchange.
Apart from Rosneft, major energy Russian energy companies Gazprom and Novatek have filed requests to participate in the first trading session.
"The realization of the Russian Energy Ministry's initiative to start organized gas trading on Russian exchanges will facilitate the development of competition and adoption of market pricing. The interest, demonstrated by the participants to the first [trading] session, proves the demand for this step and the high extent of the industry's readiness for it," Energy Minister Alexander Novak was quoted as saying in an Energy Ministry press release.
A gas exchange mechanism previously existed in Russia in 2006-2008 as an experiment.
