Gas prices at the Dutch virtual trading hub TTF shot dramatically high at the turn of September and October, leading to a pan-European alarm. After that, the situation partially calmed down, a month ago the raw material cost around 65 euros per megawatt-hour. In the second half of November, however, it started to grow again and on Tuesday it reached a hundred euros. Last year, gas was available for fifteen euros.
“Given the current fragile gas balance, any significant period of below-average temperatures is likely to push gas supply forecasts at the end of the heating season to a critical level and push prices up,” Bloomberg analyst Stefan Ulrich warned Europe of winter problems. “If the winter turns out to be particularly cold, we cannot rule out further extraordinary measures to calm the gas market, and therefore the electricity market,” he added.
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Rising fuel prices in the Czech Republic • VIDEO Videohub
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Gazprom admits that storage tanks in Europe remain well below normal levels for the period. “In terms of total gas reserves in the EU, we recorded 75.25 billion cubic meters as of November 27. The average over the last six years was 90.73 billion, a difference of fifteen billion. The performance has not been sufficient lately, “the Russian agency quoted on Tuesday TASS Gazprom’s export chief Andrei Zotov.
Zotov assured that the storage tanks are now being replenished, although this activity has been delayed by the growth of gas consumption in Russia in recent months. Explaining that it must first take care of domestic reservoirs and consumers, Moscow has long refused to send raw materials to Europe in excess of those corresponding to long-term contracts. Gas flow increased in November, but not as sharply as many had hoped.
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Thus, speculation persists that the Kremlin keeps supplies tense in an effort to push for a new pipeline to be put into operation quickly. Nord Stream 2. Its approval by the German regulator and the European Union is unlikely by the spring. The necessary maintenance in the Norwegian gas fields also does not help to calm the situation down.
However, Gazprom is now doing unusually well. On Monday, he announced that he had recorded a record net profit of 581.8 billion rubles in the past quarter, roughly 176.5 billion crowns. He was at a loss a year ago.
“Given the current momentum, we expect even more impressive results in the fourth quarter,” said company representative Famil Sadygov. At the same time, Gazprom stated that it does not expect gas prices to become cheaper next year either.
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High gas prices and fears of its winter shortage are also affecting electricity prices, which are also pushing up record-breaking emission allowances and long months of oil prices, which have stopped until now. In recent months, the weak performance of wind turbines in Europe has also contributed to the pressure. It is likely to rise sharply this week, but the long-term outlook remains uncertain.
In some countries, such as France and Spain, people fear they are facing blackouts or forced electricity savings this winter. Sports chain Decathlon this month reported in Spain increased interest in camping equipment such as gas cookers and bombs.
European governments have introduced a number of measures in recent weeks to mitigate the effects of high energy prices on consumers. Last Poland at the end of last week decreased taxes on petrol, gas and electricity to the minimum allowed by European Union rules. In addition, five million households will receive income-related contributions from the government.
