Natural Gas and LNG
Real-time gas procurement software that reduces operational, market and credit risk
-
The Challenge
Natural gas has evolved into a global industry with disparate regional markets increasingly linked by liquefied natural gas (LNG). Companies that produce, transport and trade natural gas face many challenges, including growing production, thinner margins, limited pipeline capacity and decreased market prices. The ability to quickly take advantage of intraday market movements is essential.
The Opportunity
The opportunity for improved profits lies within the operations of the business itself – taking advantage of the relevant data, breaking down the silos and integrating knowledge throughout the organization.
-
The Openlink Solution
Openlink provides a complete front- to back-office solution for gas supply, transport and trading, covering physical gas in both dry and liquid form, as well as across financial trading and hedging. Get a single, integrated solution for equity production, gas processing, scheduling, forecasting, storage and transport route optimization to marketing, trading and position management, all the way through to risk, accounting and reporting. Openlink eliminates much of the manual data integration and reconciliation work typically required in managing end-to-end gas, and your business receives more timely and accurate information for decision-making. Because Openlink provides automated, seamless processing of both physical and financial gas, you benefit from an aggregated view of positions, risk and P&L on a single system.
Request a consultation -
-
Get an aggregated physical-to-financial view of positions and risk in one system
ChallengeCompanies 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. Should an issue need to be addressed, it means going back to the source system.
SolutionOpenlink provides 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 and then drill down to the transaction level, all at the click of a mouse.
-
Forecast, trade and schedule positions from a single integrated solution
ChallengeIt’s not unusual for a company to have one system for equity volume forecasting and another, separate system for trading and scheduling. This creates a situation in which 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 production locations increase. The challenge is always to maintain consistent interfacing between the two systems even as volumes fluctuate or new production comes online.
SolutionVery simply put, Openlink can perform equity volume forecasting, trading and scheduling in a single integrated system. This enables the upstream, midstream and downstream groups to work together seamlessly.
-
Auto-schedule volumes for immediate visibility of positions
ChallengeMany schedulers constraint on the Ebb and use the system of record as an after-thought. This means traders are unable see the latest available position at the proper location until manual scheduling takes place. The pace of trading is held back by these manual processes, and profits suffer.
SolutionAn Openlink solution can provide auto-scheduling of volumes to the first decision point or marketable location via our one-of-a-kind user defined path functionality. Automated scheduling is more timely, providing traders more agile opportunities.
-
Get automated system alerts when positions are not balanced
ChallengeWith increased production and reduced headcount, schedulers require the tools to manage the many pipeline locations, storage facilities and delivery points to ensure the entire value chain stays in balance. Schedulers, working with traders, must be able to act quickly when markets are cut and determine the most efficient and profitable path forward.
SolutionAn Openlink solution can eliminate the unknown. Positions will always be visible and data is available to slice and dice to make decisions quickly and eliminate the new to miss profit opportunities or incur balancing penalties.
-
Integrated logistics help avoid supply disruptions across the value chain
ChallengeLNG 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 is essential in the current market.
SolutionWith Openlink’s solution, LNG traders, liquefaction plant owners, and LNG capacity owners can all manage their positions, contracts and optionality throughout the value chain. Users will have visibility, be able to run what-if scenarios to keep track of their supply, markets and transportation routes. Observing and tracking the transaction in real-time will allow for greater opportunities.
-
-
Products that make up your Openlink Solution:
