A new report, The Status of Gas TSOs, in Europe states that gas transit is set to play a significant role in the European gas landscape.

In 2007, the second round of market liberalisation by the European Commission created some ripples. The Commission found that lack of coherence in the powers and remits of national energy regulators was one of the biggest hurdles to a well-functioning EU energy market.

This led the commission to propose two options: ownership unbundling and introduction of Independent Systems Operators. The first option, would prevent companies involved in transmission of gas and electricity from being involved in energy generation or supply at the same time. The second, on the other hand, would allow companies in energy production and supply to retain their network assets, which would then be managed commercially by an independent company, designated by national governments. The Status of Gas TSOs analyses the differences between ownership unbundling and independent system operators.

It also finds that stagnating gas production and growing consumption have led to greater import volumes through EU member states. This continuing trend means that gas transit is an important part of a TSO’s operations. The report profiles the gas TSOs of the top 15 EU gas consuming markets. It finds that TSOs generate extremely high revenues, regardless of their ownership status and examines the profitability of the major EU gas TSOs.