On April 23 2009, the third seminar on Energy Economics Policy Issues, organized by the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB), the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZ), the Competition Authority (NMa) and TILEC/Tilburg University, will take place.

The aim of the Seminars is to create a discussion platform for Dutch energy economists, and to bridge the gap between policy makers and academics. It intends to improve the economic foundation of the Dutch and European energy policy, and ensure that economic research is better aligned with the specific needs of the energy debate.

The topic for the third seminar is "Liberalization of the gas market: prices and investments". As the process of liberalizing gas markets took off about a decade ago in continental Europe, and about two decades ago in the U.K. and the United States, it is now a good opportunity to assess the performance of this process. To which extent has liberalization resulted into competitive markets where demand and supply decisions are led by market forces and prices reflect actual scarcity conditions? In this seminar, we will discuss how the liberalized gas markets are functioning, what the strengths are, and which shortcomings should be addressed by additional regulatory measures?

We are glad to have two experts in the field to inform us about these issues:

• The first speaker is Christoph Riechmann (Frontier Economics). He is an economist specialized in infrastructure industries and gas and electricity, in particular. He advises private and public sector clients on a range of competition, regulatory and strategic issues. In 2008 he analyzed gas prices in the European and Dutch market, at the request of the NMa.

  Christoph will talk about gas prices. He will discuss factors driving gas prices, such as scarcity, resource rents, market power and the relationship with oil prices. He will also address the relationship between different geographic market platforms for gas such as TTF and NBP and between spot and bilateral contract markets for gas.

• The second speaker, Christian von Hirschhausen, is an internationally renowned expert in energy economics. He heads an energy research center at Dresden University of Technology and is visiting professor at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW). He has published extensively on many issues in energy economics, including the design of natural gas markets.

  Christian will talk about investments in transportation and storage infrastructure. He discusses whether liberalization and deregulation has improved the efficiency of investments decisions or whether it has, one way or another, created new obstacles. Using evidence from the U.S. and the E.U. he draws lessons for the future: Should the European framework be adjusted, and if so, how?

Programme (PDF)

Venue
Nederlandse Mededingingsautoriteit - NMa
Muzentoren - Room 4.20
Wijnhaven 24
Den Haag

Directions on www.nmanet.nl

Organizers
Machiel Mulder, NMa - Netherlands Competition Authority
Gijsbert Zwart, CPB - Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis
Sybren Hornstra, Ministry of Economic Affairs
Bert Willems, TILEC - Tilburg University

Registration
Attendance to the conference is free, but registration is required. Registration is not possible anymore.

Remark
To enable free discussions, the Chatham-House rule applies to this Seminar: "When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed".

TILEC's contribution to the conference has been facilitated by financial support of Essent.

For more information about TILEC's energy research check the website http://www.tilburguniversity.nl/tilec/energy/