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Retail Market – Natural Gas Ring

Within the Natural Gas Ring of the Retail Market (Available), natural gas purchase auctions are conducted, procedures initiated by end-consumer customers.

The underlying asset currently traded is exclusively natural gas used by initiating customers for non-commercial purposes (own consumption).

Customers holding a valid Natural Gas Supply License issued by ANRE who wish to initiate wholesale buy or sell orders through the Romanian Commodities Exchange have access to the Natural Gas Wholesale Markets organized by BRM (Gas Forward, Gas Forward CCP, SPOT and Balancing). For details, please access NATURAL GAS WHOLESALE MARKETS.

The main advantages of accessing the Natural Gas Ring within the Retail Market (Available) refer to:

  • Competitive price – obtained in an organized framework, as a result of the direct interaction between supply and demand. Using the price negotiation mechanism within the open-outcry auction or the electronic auction provides the possibility for bidders to further improve prices compared to their initial financial offers. If the prices obtained do not fall within the proposed cap, there is the possibility to negotiate their reduction with the bidder ranked first within the same session, without the need to restart the entire procedure;
  • Shorter timeframe for conducting procedures – the order is scheduled for trading within a maximum of 7 days from the date of issuance;
  • BRM quotations – provide the advantage of a reference system for benchmarking against market prices in transactions carried out through BRM;
  • Exchange Guarantee System – proper performance of the contract based on this system used, as well as as a result of the careful selection of bidders before they are admitted to trading;
  • Large number of bidders, due to the significant quantities traded at the overall market level;
  • Time and additional effort savings related to the sale or purchase of products;
  • Elimination of bureaucracy related to traditional public procurement procedures by standardizing commodities and reducing the number of required and submitted documents.

Main advantages of purchasing on the Available Market:

  • completion of procedures within 7 days from the launch of the order;
  • obtaining a competitive price by using electronic trading sessions or those with physical attendance;
  • using BRM quotations as a reference system for substantiating the budget allocated to a purchase;
  • exchange guarantee;
  • ensuring competition.

The contracting authority has the right to apply the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice for the award of public procurement contracts for products quoted and purchased on a commodities market, where the regulated and supervised multilateral trading facility naturally guarantees market prices.

  • Law 98/2016 on public procurement, Art. 104, para. (5), letter c)
  • Government Decision No. 395/2016 approving the methodological norms for applying the provisions regarding the award of the public procurement contract/framework agreement under Law No. 98/2016 on public procurement.
  • Law 99/2016 on sectoral procurement, Art. 117 para. (1) letter g)
  • Government Decision No. 394/2016 approving the methodological norms for applying the provisions regarding the award of the public procurement contract/framework agreement under Law No. 99/2016 on sectoral procurement.

Access and trading methods on the Retail Market (Available) – Natural Gas Ring

1. Complete the Initiating Order, according to your situation and specifications.

ATTENTION!

In the Natural Gas Ring, the bid price includes all costs related to supply (the natural gas supply price, regulated tariffs for transport, storage and distribution services, imbalance tariff, as well as any other expenses). However, it is recommended to bid your own supply price, excluding ANRE tariffs, excise duty and VAT. For a correct estimate of your supply contract to be auctioned, please consult ANRE Natural Gas Prices and Tariffs.

2. Establish the procedure schedule with the Natural Gas Ring Manager or with the Director of your BRM Terminal

Your trading session (auction) will be conducted only on BRM’s electronic trading platform. It will be scheduled within a maximum of 7 calendar days from the date your Initiating Order is published. To bring this forward (minimum 4 days) or postpone it (over 8 days), please send a written request to the ring manager or to the BRM Terminal organizing the procedure.

3. Submit the Initiating Order to BRM together with the Award Documentation.

It is recommended that the Award Documentation include:

  • Specifications – your conditions and technical specifications for natural gas supply in the future supply contract.
    • Annexes with consumption history for the previous period
    • Annexes with consumption points and their distributors
  • Supply Contract (draft) – your conditions and specifications from a legal and economic perspective.
  • Participation Forms – to be completed by any potential bidder

4. BRM publishes your Initiating Order and sends the Invitations to Participate.

If you submit the Initiating Order and the Award Documentation by 16:00, the procedure will be published the same day.

If you submit the documents after 16:00, the procedure will be published the next day. For this reason, the procedure schedule may be subject to changes. Full responsibility for any changes to the procedure schedule lies exclusively with the ordering customer.

5. Publicity period

Between the publication date of the procedure and the Deadline for Submission of Offers, any potential bidder may submit requests for clarification and/or amendments to the Award Documentation, to the addresses and within the deadlines specified in the Initiating Order. Full responsibility for drafting and sending responses to clarification requests regarding the Award Documentation lies exclusively with the ordering customer.

6. Registration of bidders for the procedure and submission of offers

Any potential bidder must submit the requested documents by the deadline specified as the Deadline for Submission of Offers, as follows:

  • Opposite-Side Order – to the ring manager and to the address of the organizing Terminal
  • Proof of posting the Exchange Guarantee – to the ring manager and to the address of the organizing Terminal
  • Offer Documentation (documents requested by the initiating customer) – to the addresses of the initiating customer or to the address of the organizing Terminal

7. Evaluation and qualification/rejection of offers

The evaluation of the documents requested through the Award Documentation (pursuant to Law 98 or 99/2016) within the submitted offers, as well as their qualification or, as applicable, rejection from the price trading stage, is carried out by the evaluation committee of the customer initiating the procedure. Full responsibility for qualifying or rejecting the received offers lies exclusively with the ordering customer.

8. Electronic Trading Session

It is divided into 3 stages, as follows:

  • Stage I: Opening of the Session – Bidders enter starting prices – Approximate duration: 15 minutes
  • Stage II: Free Trades – Bidders improve the prices entered in Stage I – Approximate duration: 15 minutes
    • The prices of the bidders and of the initiating customer are visible to all participants throughout the session
    • The initiating customer’s price may be challenged by any bidder, thereby launching the trade. Execution time: 2 minutes
    • The price of the bidder who launched a trade may be counter-challenged by any other bidder. Counter-challenge time: max. 2 minutes
    • If the order that launched a trade is not counter-challenged within 2 minutes of launch, the trade is executed and can no longer be challenged.
  • Stage III: Closing of the Session – Bidders can no longer modify prices. The Initiating Customer accepts/rejects the best price.

Attention! If operational malfunctions occur during Phases 1 and 2, immediately take a screenshot (not a phone photo) of the error message from the application menu and send it immediately to the ring manager you are working with. Then contact your point of contact, either at BRM or at your assigned terminal. Complaints not accompanied by the supporting screenshot will not be considered!

9. Completion of the procedure. Documents issued following the trading session

  • Trading session report – signed by all participants in the respective procedure:
    • The Initiating Customer
    • Bidding Customers
    • Session coordinator
  • Exchange Contract (for sessions concluded with award) – signed by:
    • The Initiating Customer
    • The Customer Winning the Auction
    • Session coordinator

10. Completion of the procedure. Return of guarantees. Payment of the BRM commission

  • Complete a Guarantee Refund Request and submit it to the ring manager.
  • If the company you represent is a party to the executed transaction, pay the BRM commission into the account specified on the invoice you receive after signing the Exchange Contract.
  • If you posted the guarantee via Payment Order, you may also pay the amount on the commission invoice by offsetting it against the amount transferred to the guarantee account. In this case, request the Mutual Debt Settlement Agreement from the ring manager. The difference will be transferred back by BRM to the account specified by you.
  • If the company you represent is not a party to the recorded transaction and has no outstanding debts to BRM, BRM will transfer the amount back to the account specified by you, within the timeframe specified in the Guarantee Refund Request.