According to a survey released by SunGard’s Energy Solutions business unit and Utilipoint, uncertainty about reliable sources for gas, barriers to cross-border trading of gas, and the ability of IT systems to deal with the increasing complexities of the gas industry are amongst the key concerns of European gas market participants.
Over half of the respondents to the survey (53 per cent) felt that Russia and the Caspian region represented the most dependable supply source, with only thirteen per cent feeling Europe should look to the Middle East for a consistent gas supply between now and 2012.
The survey, which sought the views of more than 100 key energy market stakeholders including energy companies, banks and analysts also revealed that nearly half (49 per cent) of those organisations questioned felt that their current IT systems were inadequate to deal with the complexities in the European gas trading market.
Doubts surrounding supply source and security, along with the impact of market regulation, suggest that the next five years will be an uncertain period for the European energy industry, particularly in the gas sector, says SunGard.
“The survey results highlight the criticality of integrated IT solutions to cope with the changes ahead in the gas industry,” says Matt Mandalinci, president of SunGard’s Energy Solutions business unit. “With solutions for energy trading, risk management, operations and back-office systems, SunGard offers a suite of applications designed to help handle cross-border transactions for multiple commodities in multiple currencies. Our focus is on delivering a customer-proven integration platform that builds on the strength of industry standard technology and on our experience delivering solutions that help energy companies streamline their business.”