The Oude-Bunde-Emden region on the Dutch-German border is the main crossroads for northwest Europe’s natural gas. Pipelines belonging to such gas companies as Gasunie, BEB, Wingas, RuhrGas and EWE converge there, bearing gas from Norway, the Netherlands and the UK and funnelling it into Germany.

Yet trade is limited by the lack of a proper trading hub, such as exists at Zeebrugge in Belgium or the UK’s National Balancing Point (NBP). In spring last year, in a bid to agree on plans to remedy