The Existing Secondary Market for NGTL Firm Transport
Natural gas transport optimization involves identifying firm contracts and reallocating it through the secondary market to reduce costs for shippers.
How the Traditional Secondary Market Works Today
Identification of Firm Contracts Shippers manually review their firm contracts versus actual usage. This often leads to imbalances due to volume mismatches between production and contracts or seasonal demand swings (high winter demand vs. lower summer volumes).
Finding Counterparties Shippers rely on personal relationships, phone calls, industry group chats, or bilateral outreach to locate potential buyers. There is no centralized, visible marketplace.
Negotiation Process Deals are negotiated privately. Pricing lacks transparency — it depends heavily on personal relationships, timing, and individual bargaining power. Terms are agreed upon via email or phone.
Transaction Execution Once terms are agreed, the release or assignment of capacity is submitted manually to the pipeline operator.
Post-Trade Management There is limited real-time tracking. Shippers often don’t have clear visibility into realized savings from secondary market trades.
Key Limitations of the Current Secondary Market
Limited Visibility — No open marketplace means many potential buyers never see available firm contracts.
Opaque Pricing — Prices vary widely with no public benchmark.
High Friction — Heavy reliance on relationships restricts access, especially for smaller shippers.
Missed Opportunities — Some firm contracts goes unmonetized, leaving significant money on the table every month.
How Hummingbird Changes the Game
Hummingbird enables superior natural gas transport optimization by combining proprietary algorithms, real-time data with a structured marketplace.
Automatically identifies opportunities across your preferred meters
Matches buyers and sellers efficiently in a transparent, secure digital marketplace.
Enables fast execution with clear pricing and automated tools.
Provides real-time tracking of cost savings.
Disclaimer
Hummingbird is an independent digital marketplace operated by TOTEC Solutions Ltd. TOTEC Solutions is not affiliated with, partnered with, or endorsed by NGTL, TC Energy, or any other natural gas pipeline operator.
All information and analysis provided are developed solely by TOTEC based on publicly available data.