Commercial operation mode of gas storages based on attributive analysis of gas storage service

Gas storage service has the attributes of perishable assets and financial assets. Hence, its revenue can be maximized by the revenue management based on the division of financial value, the detailed classification of gas storage service products and the differential pricing. In order to explore the new idea on commercial operation mode of gas storages, the financial values of gas storage service products were quantitatively calculated with the least-square Monte-Carlo method, so that the variation of the financial value of gas storage service in the dimensions of product and market was shown. The result indicates that the working gas volume and the injection-withdrawal capacity of gas storage service products are restrained mutually. So, the gas storage service products should have a reasonable combination of working gas volume and injection-withdrawal capacity to realize better value. In addition, the contract duration is affected by the price circle of natural gas, and the products with contract duration in integral multiple years show higher financial values. Based on the variation of financial value, various market forms are separated into the regulation phase, the intrinsic value phase and the external value phase. Generally, the financial value of gas storages is extremely low in the regulation phase. The financial value that can be achieved by the gas storage service varies little in the intrinsic and external value phases at low price volatility, but relatively higher in the external value phases at high price volatility. The research results could provide theoretical support for building the commercial operation mode of gas storages under the background of natural gas marketization.