Update of Technical Rules no. 07 and no. 18 MGAS and of the IG Index GME methodology
GME informs market participants that, on 1 October 2025, the new version of Technical Rule no. 07 MGAS – Types of Contracts, Duration of the Trading Period and Cascading Mechanism will enter into force. This Technical Rule has been amended to update the reference timetable for trading spot products in the natural-gas market (hereafter: MGAS) and the related naming conventions.
With the changes introduced, in particular, the working and non-working days included in the products will always be harmonised with those of the products traded on the main European trading platforms, eliminating the differences that currently exist during some holiday periods (e.g., Easter, Christmas), thereby enabling market participants to optimise their trading and hedging strategies.
GME will thus adopt a reference timetable based on the British timetable, which will be published on GME’s website and in the MGAS platform (hereafter: MGAS reference timetable) and is also provided below for informational purposes only. At the same time, a new spot product will be introduced into the MGAS, the “Working Days Next Week”, which will complement the Week-End product. In particular, the updated version of Technical Rule no. 07 MGAS, published below for informational purposes only, will involve the following changes within the MGP-GAS:
- redefinition of the week-end contract (hereafter: WE), which normally includes the gas-days corresponding to Saturday and Sunday, but may also include the gas-days preceding and/or following Saturday and Sunday, if such days are regarded as holidays according to the MGAS reference timetable (e.g.: the Easter WE will consist of 4 gas-days, from Good Friday to Easter Monday;
- redefinition of daily contracts, which normally include the gas-days G+1, G+2, and G+3. However, if the market session takes place on a gas-day G, which is a working day according to the MGAS reference timetable and is followed by at least three holidays, the daily contracts tradable in the MGAS will be those referring to periods until the first working gas-day following the last holiday, G+4 or beyond (e.g., on Thursday before Easter, the G+5 product, corresponding to Tuesday after Easter, will be available);
- introduction of the “Working Days Next Week” contract (hereafter: WK/DY NW), with a delivery period equal to the individual consecutive gas-days, consisting of the set of the working days, according to the MGAS reference timetable, from Monday to Friday of the week following the one in which the contract is traded. If Saturday or Sunday are preceded and/or followed by holidays, according to the MGAS reference timetable, such days will not be included in the WK/DY NW product.
In this regard, it is worth pointing out that the above products will also be available on Trayport with the naming conventions (DA, WE, WK/DY NW, Monday, Tuesday, etc.) adopted on the main European exchanges, as indicated in the MGAS reference timetable.
Moreover, beginning on 1 October 2025, consistently with the changes made to Technical Rule no. 07 MGAS, the following documents will be published on GME’s website and enter into force:
- the new version of the document containing the Calculation method of the Italian Gas Index IGI, which has been amended to align the listing of the IGI with the new naming conventions for the products tradable in the MGAS;
- the updated version of Technical Rule no. 18 MGAS - Market Making Activity; this version now provides that the Market Making activity will take place on the days and in the time window during which the IGI will be listed, i.e. on the working days defined in the MGAS reference timetable. These documents are provided below for informational purposes only. In this regard, it is worth noting that, if a Market-Making participant does not want to accept the changes and additions made to Technical Rule no. 18 MGAS and its Annexes, he/she/it may terminate the “Participation Agreement for carrying out the Market Making Activity referred to in Article 27 of the Natural-Gas Market Rules” under article 2, subpara. a) thereof, by sending an appropriate notice under the established procedure and to the address indicated therein.
For further details, please refer, for informational purposes only, to the new versions of:
- Technical Rule no. 07 MGAS
- Technical Rule no. 18 MGAS
- Document containing the Calculation method of the Italian Gas Index IGI
- MGAS reference timetable.