Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering: Gas storage review article

Pricing and optimization of natural gas storage in competitive natural gas markets

The Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering has published an invited review article of Cyriel de Jong. In this paper we review the pricing and optimization of natural gas storage in competitive natural gas markets. Over the past decade various valuation approaches are suggested. Of those approaches, the most general ones are based on Monte Carlo price simulations. These approaches allow the evaluation of different market trading strategies and different assumptions about the underlying price process.

Estimated storage value through spot optimization and hedging

In a simulation exercise we first demonstrate that the impact of parameter (e.g. volatility) uncertainty on storage value is relatively limited. Inevitably, different market parameters lead to different storage values. However, the trading strategy is relatively robust for a reasonably wide range of market parameters. Parameter uncertainty is also evaluated in a large-scale backtest of different storage trading strategies. The backtest of three different virtual gas storage types in the UK market provides a unique insight in trading performance. The analysis shows how spot optimization combined with forward hedging would have fared over the past 17 years. On average, the estimated storage value can be realized with a combination of spot optimization and dynamic delta hedging in the forward market. Dynamic intrinsic hedging of the spot exposures works relatively well too, but less so than delta hedging.

Further info

For Journal information go to the Elsevier website. If you would like to receive the full paper on the optimization of natural gas storage, please contact us.