Back to the complete issue
Tuesday, 7 August 2018

EGX, Oil Ministry officials begin deliberations over setting up natural gas futures exchange

EGX, Oil Ministry officials begin deliberations over setting up natural gas futures exchange: Bourse officials have reportedly started talks with the Oil Ministry to set up a futures exchange for natural gas, banking sources tell Al Mal. Officials met last week to begin discussing their vision for the establishment of energy-oriented futures exchanges, beginning with natural gas, according to the sources, who add that the gas exchange market will be the main platform used for striking gas sale and purchase agreements and determining prices, quantities, and delivery dates. The framework is still in the early drafting stages, the sources said, hinting that we’re still a long way from seeing the market turn into a reality.

Background: The recently-amended Capital Markets Act and its executive regulations included provisions that allow for the establishment of futures exchanges and the introduction of other financial instruments, such as green bonds, sukuk, and margin trading. We had heard in May that Financial Regulatory Authority boss Mohamed Omran had tasked a committee with drafting the rules and regulations that would govern futures exchanges, which are part of a four-year strategy to develop Egypt’s non-banking financial sector. New regulations to govern short-selling are also in the works and expected to be complete by 3Q2018.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.