Energy Matrix Group’s gasTrading Spot Market™

June 2026

Creating liquidity and flexibility in Western Australia’s gas market

Overview

Australia’s domestic gas market has historically been characterised by long-term bilateral contracts, limited transparency and challenges for buyers and sellers seeking flexibility outside contracted positions. Recognising this market gap, Energy Matrix Group (EMG) developed the gasTrading Spot Market™ in 2009, a platform enabling efficient short-term gas trading between market participants.

Having operated exclusively in WA for more than 15 years the gasTrading Spot Market™ has become one of Australia’s most established independent gas trading platforms, facilitating transactions between producers, industrial gas users, retailers and other energy market participants. The platform was developed to improve liquidity, increase market transparency and provide participants with greater flexibility in managing gas supply and demand positions.

The challenge

Participants use the Spot Market™ to meet a range of commercial and operational needs. For some, it provides access to gas priced in line with near-term supply and demand conditions, without requiring a commitment to longer-term take-or-pay positions. For others, it helps manage take-or-pay obligations under existing gas supply contracts or optimise the balance between baseload requirements and variable demand.

Many gas market participants also face periodic imbalances between contracted supply and actual demand. Producers may have surplus gas available for sale, while industrial users, power generators and retailers may require additional volumes at short notice.

Requirements were often managed through direct negotiations, which could be time-consuming, inefficient and lack price transparency. The absence of a liquid secondary market reduced flexibility and increased costs across the gas supply chain. EMG identified an opportunity to create a structured marketplace that took advantage of participants requirements for flexibility, offering short-term transparent pricing, connecting buyers and sellers and improving market access.

The solution

The gasTrading Spot Market™ provides a transparent trading mechanism that allows participants to buy and sell short-term gas positions.

Each month, sellers nominate gas volumes available for sale and their minimum acceptable pricing. Buyers are then invited to submit bids for available gas.

Volumes are allocated through a transparent process ranking offers based on price, ensuring efficient market clearing while maintaining equitable access for participants. Standardised agreements and established trading protocols simplify participation and reduce transaction complexity.

The platform supports buyers seeking arbitrary gas supplies and sellers looking to monetise surplus contracted gas or unused production capacity. This allows market participants to optimise take-or-pay commitments, manage operational variability and improve portfolio efficiency.

Results and industry impact

The gasTrading Spot Market™ has grown into a significant component of WA’s wholesale gas market. EMG trading volumes on the platform have, at times, reached approximately half the volume traded through the Wallumbilla Gas Supply Hub and exceeded volumes traded through the Moomba Gas Supply Hub. The platform has demonstrated consistent trading activity, operating daily and providing reliable liquidity for market participants.

Since price and volume records began being published on the gasTrading Spot Market™ in 2012, it has grown to become a useful tool for traders, analysts and regulators wanting to understand price movements in the short-term gas market.

Strategic significance

The success of the gasTrading Spot Market™ demonstrates how innovative market mechanisms can improve efficiency and flexibility within Australia’s energy sector. By creating a transparent and commercially effective trading environment, Energy Matrix enables producers, retailers and large energy users to better manage supply risks, optimise commercial outcomes and respond to changing market conditions.

As Australia’s energy markets continue to evolve, the gasTrading Spot Market™ remains an example of industry-led innovation that has delivered meaningful benefits to participants, while supporting the development of a more liquid and responsive domestic gas market.