OMIP launches CMVM-authorised OBEE benchmark indices for Iberian power and gas
Go-liveOMIP announced on 16 October 2025 the launch of the OMIP Benchmarks for Energy and Environment (OBEE), initially covering electricity and natural gas. The activity is regulated under the European Benchmark Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 and OMIP has been qualified as 'Benchmark Administrator' by the Portuguese Securities Markets Authority (CMVM). For electricity, the benchmark family covers delivery zones Portugal (PTEL), Spain (SPEL) and the Portugal–Spain interconnection (IFTR P-E and IFTR E-P), with Base, Peak and Solar profiles, and Day, Weekend, Week, Month, Quarter and Year delivery periods. The indices are constructed as simple or weighted arithmetic averages of hourly or daily prices published by the respective market operators.
OMIP states these indices are in common use for settlement and as references in regulated markets as well as in bilateral contracting, so placing them under a BMR-authorised administration framework affects the integrity and governance of reference prices used across Iberian forward contracting.
The concrete design object here is not a trading arrangement but the administration layer beneath it: the reference prices used to settle financial power and gas exposure in Iberia. By obtaining CMVM authorisation as Benchmark Administrator under Regulation (EU) 2016/1011, OMIP formalises methodology governance, oversight and control obligations for indices that the press release says already serve settlement and reference functions in regulated markets and bilateral contracts. The substantive market-design content is in the taxonomy: PTEL and SPEL zonal references keep the two MIBEL bidding zones distinct, while IFTR P-E and IFTR E-P treat the Portugal–Spain interconnection direction as separately benchmarked — the natural reference basis for financial transmission-right style hedging of the PT–ES spread. The inclusion of a Solar profile alongside Base and Peak is the most design-relevant novelty: it acknowledges that in a high-PV Iberian system the economically meaningful shape is no longer only peak-versus-baseload, and gives counterparties a standardised way to price and settle solar-shaped volume rather than negotiating bespoke shaping in PPAs. The granularity ladder from Day through Year mirrors the full forward curve, which supports use in both short-dated settlement and long-dated bilateral structures. What the source does not establish is any change to trading rules, clearing arrangements, product listings, or to how underlying prices are formed — the indices are explicitly derived averages of prices published by the respective market operators, so price formation itself is unchanged. Constraints on interpretation: no methodology document, no gas-side zone or profile detail (beyond the stated initial coverage of natural gas and OMIP's Spanish PVB-ES gas products), no authorisation date, no effective date for index publication, and no stated review or consultation process. The 'and Environment' element of the OBEE name plus OMIP's existing Guarantees of Origin auction role hints at future environmental-certificate benchmarks, but the source confirms only electricity and gas at launch. Watch items are publication of the OBEE methodology and rulebook, ESMA benchmark register entry, and whether OMIClear-cleared contracts and Iberian PPAs migrate their settlement references to the administered indices.
Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 (EU Benchmarks Regulation); OMIP authorised as Benchmark Administrator by CMVM
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