Boost For Emissions Transparency As World's First Methane Marketplace Launches

• World's first platform provides transparent centralized trading Hub for gas certified by methane emissions generated during production
• Ground-breaking platform set to incentivise drastic reductions in methane emissions
• CG Hub reflects wider global drive to reduce methane emissions by increasing liquidity and price transparency, while allowing empirical understanding of emissions impact on each trade

London /PRNewswire/ - CG Hub, the world's first trading platform for certified gas, has been launched today to drive greater emissions transparency in natural gas.

Leading global energy producers, traders and buyers who will participate in the ground-breaking platform are soon to be announced, incentivising drastic reductions in global methane emissions.

The CG Hub, run by the cloud-based energy trading platform COMET, is being launched in conjunction with non-profit MiQ - the fastest growing and most trusted methane emissions certification standard.

MiQ, which is already certifying 15 bcf per day, has 1.2 billion certificates currently available on its digital registry.

This demonstrates the huge potential of certified gas available to trade on the CG Hub and reflects the momentum behind methane certification and its potential to drive meaningful action on climate change.

Georges Tijbosch, Chief Executive Officer at MiQ, said: 
"While we wait for the world to transition to clean energy, we need to create the infrastructure for the market to deliver change on emissions today.

"The Hub will bring transparency and drive demand for certified natural gas by taking it from a niche, bilateral trading ecosystem to a thriving, dynamic marketplace. We are delighted to see so many future-facing businesses working to drive change on global methane emissions."  

Gas traded on the Hub must have been certified based on its methane emissions, offering for the first time the chance for multiple players to buy and sell this commodity with a true understanding of the emissions impact of each batch.

Certified gas is gas that has been assessed against a credible and transparent standard to provide an honest, data-led grade based on methane emissions. Grading gas based on methane emissions differentiates better performers, assists buyers with integration of this important product into their overall ESG plan, and creates the incentives for market improvements. 

COMET has over 250 distinct corporate members who would be eligible to use the CG Hub.

Michael Mackey, Chief Operating Officer at COMET, said:
"Working with MiQ to develop the CG Hub concept is a major step in opening up the nascent certified gas market that we believe will deliver on the promise of significant methane reduction."

"We are gratified by the initial positive market response to CG Hub and look forward to working with many more progressive firms to improve emissions transparency, price discovery, encourage liquidity, and provide a community to drive methane reduction awareness."

Previously only available to trade bilaterally, the CG Hub, which is adapted from the award-winning COMET platform, will drive greater trading and emissions transparency, providing:

• A centralized Hub (dashboard) for bids and offers all members can view
• The ability to list certification details (level, methane intensity, etc.), attach certificates, all captured in the audit trail
• Notifications to all members when a new deal is posted
• The ability to click to execute or begin a bilateral negotiation
• Receipt of an automated transaction confirmation.
• A comprehensive transaction audit log to help meet a variety of compliance and regulatory standards.
• Best pricing

About MiQ
MiQ is an independent not-for-profit established by RMI (formerly the Rocky Mountain Institute), and global sustainability consultancy SYSTEMIQ to facilitate a rapid reduction in methane emissions from the oil and gas sector.

MiQ is the fastest growing and most trusted methane emissions certification standard.

Certification allows global society to credibly differentiate gas based on its methane emissions performance, providing a market mechanism that incentivizes methane reduction. MiQ's vision is to create a market where certified natural gas can be traded like other historical commodities ultimately creating incentives to drive down methane emissions across the board

About Certification
MiQ Certificates are like a nutrition label for natural gas. They provide an honest record of facts, good and bad, unlike green labels which are subjective and ambiguous.

MiQ Certificates reflect the emissions impact of each batch of gas, how much methane was leaked during production, how effective the company's methane emissions management processes and procedures are, and how robust their methane detection technology is. Together, they provide the information needed to drive market improvements.

Just as food nutrition labels provide the necessary information to choose a healthy diet, MiQ Certification helps gas buyers better understand what they're buying and the impact it is having on the planet.

About methane emissions and natural gas
Methane is 84x as potent in climate terms as CO2 over a 20-year timeframe, so by reducing the volumes emitted we can make a big impact quickly. Not only that, but the oil and gas sector is responsible for 84 million tonnes of methane annually. This equates to 8x the aviation sector's global CO2 emissions each year, all the CO2 emissions from the world's cars and trucks, and 140 per cent of the US' annual CO2 emissions.

About COMET
Headquartered in Chicago with offices throughout the US, TruMarx Data Partners, Inc. is an experienced team of energy professionals with an established track record delivering powerful technology solutions, including the marketplaces COMET and CG Hub, to meet energy market challenges facing our global customers, including the measurement of specific transactional attributes required to quantify ESG goals.