STTM General Overview and Publications
The Short Term Trading Market (STTM) is a market-based wholesale gas balancing mechanism to be established at defined gas hubs in Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane. An objective of the STTM is to facilitate the short term trading of gas between pipelines, participants and production centres. The STTM commenced operation in Adelaide and Sydney on 1 September 2010 and in Brisbane on 1 December 2011.
Establishment of the STTM is a major step in the Ministerial Council on Energy's (MCE) policy agenda for reform of the energy industry and consequently this project is supported and monitored closely by the MCE.
The market itself runs once a day, on the day ahead, for each hub. It uses bids, offers and forecasts submitted by participants and pipeline capacities to determine schedules for deliveries from the pipelines which ship gas from producers to transmission users and the hubs. These hubs are nominally the low pressure networks in Adelaide and Sydney.
The market sets a daily market price at each hub and settles each hub based on the schedules and deviations from schedules. Participant's daily transactions (scheduled trades and unscheduled deviations or variations) are settled at market prices and billed regularly (monthly). Suitable credit management arrangements have been put in place to manage credit requirements.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) operates the STTM. However, AEMO does not operate the physical pipeline or network assets and actual physical operation of assets is carried out by the asset owners.
The existing retail gas markets in New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland continue to operate in conjunction with the STTM wholesale gas market in each state.
STTM Publications