View the full prospectus in PDF
PIRA’s Consumer Gas Price Database meets a growing need to better understand prices in new and emerging gas markets around the world. The service goes well beyond the conventional look at wholesale prices such as NBP, Henry, and oil-indexed gas in Europe and Asia by accessing a deeper layer of prices that until now was largely fragmented and difficult to find and compare.
Unique and proprietary, the Consumer Gas Price Database includes information culled from official sources in over 115 countries and territories, ranging from 1999 (in some cases, further back) to the present day. With over 300,000 prices updated on a monthly basis, this database is unrivalled in its completeness and currency, and thus, convenience and value.
Users can access prices in many countries that have largely isolated domestic gas markets, where pricing is not only highly specialized, it is also largely disconnected from global gas benchmarks, both spot and oil-indexed. With gas penetration in the OECD world limiting growth prospects, much of the world's gas demand growth will be coming from these emerging markets, ranging from large (China and India) to small (Jamaica and the Philippines). Without having to consult a myriad of sources and spend hours of time, the Database’s users have immediate access to updated consumer prices in these disparate markets.
1. A price database providing a standard range of fields associated with each price.
2. Monthly updates to ensure the latest data are always available.
3. The Consumer Gas Price Scorecard, a report issued semimonthly (generally on the first and third Thursdays of the month) that analyzes the outlook for consumer gas prices by geographic regions and by market sectors, based upon the latest data from the Database.
4. Access to PIRA staff for analytical support
PIRA foresees 33 new countries proposing LNG import terminals and another 10 countries looking at connecting, by pipeline, to the global market for the first time. The proliferation of LNG import terminals will open up at least 15 new gas markets by the end of the decade. Thanks to a surge in cross-border pipelines and LNG import terminal construction, the penetration of natural gas into more and more countries around the world will require a better understanding of consumer gas prices in once isolated markets.
These prices will affect a country's ability to manufacture in gas-intensive industries and influence its choices over future fuel use in the power sector. LNG terminals are already present on every continent, meaning gas can be moved to once-isolated nations where high prices prevailed. Many of these countries and territories are importing sizable amounts of crude or oil products at high costs. Other countries export oil and are looking for a way to curb domestic consumption and expand export revenues.
These oil-related issues set a high bar for future gas price negotiations. But if the price is too high, the motive to switch off oil will disappear. Finding the sweet spot between Atlantic Basin spot gas and oil-indexed parity for prices will be a critical component in the signing of spot deals and contracts with new and existing buyers in the years to come.
By using the Database, gas-intensive industrial users are able to see which countries have the most competitive price for feed gas and gain an immediate understanding of their competitor’s costs. Sellers of gas can verify acceptable prices for buyers around the world and assess whether a subsidy should be provided to penetrate a new market. The service also includes consumer prices from gas-consuming giants such as North America, Western Europe, and Japan/Korea.
A country's consumer gas prices and an understanding of their elasticity of demand can often indicate whether that country will take cargos of gas in tight markets and at what price. Where the driving force is oversupply for the seller or security of demand for the buyer, upstream players can use these data to further their understanding of developing markets and their propensity to buy and commit to long-term agreements. National oil and gas companies can also use the data as an independent benchmark for pricing within their borders and to justify any price changes. In sum, this service provides a rich source of comparative data to help any company’s market analysis of the competitive landscape.
Each price provided in the Consumer Gas Price Database connects to additional “meta-data,” including an end-user category. Other final components — such as taxes, transportation, and distribution — can be made available where requested. All figures have been reduced down to a single price expressed in US$/MMBtu with other currencies and units available for analysis. Further, accessing these prices is simple, as the service’s data are integrated into PIRA’s existing Energy Price Portal on PIRA Online, which is already available to all of PIRA’s Global Oil, Gas, LNG, Electricity, Coal and Emissions clients.
The Consumer Gas Price Database is available under annual subscription terms and includes all future updates to the software and data. There are discounts for clients of PIRA’s North American Natural Gas, European Natural Gas, and Global LNG retainer services. The base fee allows access for up to 10 unique users at one company location. For usage beyond that profile, the fee is adjusted accordingly.
Bespoke Datasets: Additional data and research can be made available with costs provided on request.