Discover what ION can do for you
Over half of the world’s top natural gas companies use an ION Commodities solution
Businesses face a challenging and dynamic period in today’s volatile and unpredictable markets. As the energy transition evolves, navigating risk while capitalizing on new opportunities is at the forefront of every commodity business. Whether organizations operate across all or part of the natural gas and liquified natural gas (LNG) value chain, they are challenged to manage their business efficiently while driving profitability. ION Commodities’ solutions integrate across the value chain to give traders, schedulers, back-office specialists, and risk managers complete visibility at any time.
Related sectors
The gathering and processing of natural gas from the wellhead to a processing plant or transmission line.
The exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, and delivery to the wellhead. Despite the energy transition, the demand for the producers’ products will be growing well into the 2030s.
The transportation and storage of natural gas via pipelines and various types of gas storage options to meet volatile demand throughout the year.
The delivery of natural gas to industrials or residential homes for consumption, or a utility’s own power plants to generate electricity. LNG requires a special form of long-range transportation in which the utility or marketer may need to take care of the liquefaction, the shipment, or the regasification.
Value delivered
- Challenge
Accurate forecasting volumes and trading positions
It’s not unusual for a company to have one system for equity volume forecasting and another system for natural gas trading and scheduling. In this situation, the producer needs to aggregate meter quantities into a common trading and scheduling position monthly, then update and manage significant production changes. This process becomes more complicated as the number of production locations increases. The challenge is always to maintain consistent interfacing between the two systems, even as volumes fluctuate or new production comes online.SolutionRely on a single integrated solution
ION’s commodity management systems can perform equity volume forecasting, trading, and scheduling in a single integrated platform. This enables the upstream, midstream, and downstream groups to work together seamlessly. - Challenge
Separate systems for physicals and financials
Companies need a view of their entire natural gas value chain, including positions across both physical and financial transactions. However, these transactions are often processed in separate systems. As a result, data needs to be extracted at a granular level from each system, standardized, and integrated into consolidated reporting tools. To address an issue, users need to go back to the source system.SolutionAggregated view of positions and risk
ION’s CTRM systems provide automated, straight-through processing of both physical and financial gas transactions. With our real-time reporting tools, you can see your aggregated positions, risk, and P&L. Then you’re able to drill down to the transaction level, all with a single click that ensures efficient risk management. - Challenge
Supply and demand imbalances
With increased production and reduced headcount, midstream producers must manage their transportation, logistics, production, and storage facilities to ensure the entire value chain stays in balance. These companies must be able to act quickly when markets are cut and determine the most efficient and profitable path forward.SolutionImproved position management
ION’s commodity management solutions can help eliminate the unknown. Positions are always visible and data is available to slice and dice. So, you can make decisions quickly, capitalize on new opportunities, and reduce balancing penalties. - Challenge
Meeting the needs of your LNG business
Natural gas trading has evolved into a global industry with disparate regional markets increasingly linked by LNG. Companies that produce, transport, and trade natural gas face many challenges, including growing production, thinner margins, limited pipeline capacity, and decreased market prices. Taking advantage of intraday market movements quickly is essential.SolutionA solution ready for LNG
The opportunity for improved profits lies within a business’ operations, by taking advantage of the relevant data, breaking down the silos, and integrating knowledge throughout the organization. ION’s commodity management solutions provide a complete front-to-back solution for gas supply, transport, and trading, covering physical gas in both dry and liquid form. Our solutions also cover financial trading and hedging. - Challenge
Mitigate supply disruptions
LNG owners and operators need to have visibility into feed gas requirements, LNG storage space, lifting schedules, and contract optionality. Without the entire picture, there are too many places to lose money and miss opportunities. Planning and optimizing are essential in the current market.SolutionIntegrated logistics across the value chain
With ION’s commodities solutions, LNG traders, liquefaction plant owners, and LNG capacity owners can all manage their positions and exposure, contracts, and optionality throughout the value chain. Users have visibility and be able to run what-if scenarios to monitor their supply, markets, and transportation routes. Observing and tracking the transaction in real-time allows for greater opportunities.
Products
A suite of leading portfolio risk analytics and asset optimization tools for decision support.
A shipping solution for vessel chartering and operations integrated with ION’s CTRMs.
