“Gas Reservoirs Filled & Prices Drop in Czech Republic”

Gas reservoirs in the Czech Republic are being filled again. After the end of the heating season, gas flows into them in full, mainly from the west and north of Europe and the USA. In addition, gas prices have fallen significantly. According to economists, this is the ideal time to fix prices.

The heating season ended last week. In the last month alone, it was possible to increase the filling of reservoirs by almost fifteen percentage points. “The tanks are filled to approximately 67 percent. This gives us great promise, also considering the market situation, that we will deal with this winter very well,” said Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Síkela (for STAN).

At this time last year, roughly 1,740 million cubic meters of gas were stored, which is roughly half of the storage capacity. “In neighboring Germany, it is already over 70 percent. So the prerequisites are in place for us not to experience any shocks at the beginning of the heating season,” he then adds Jiří Gavor from Association of Independent Energy Suppliers.

At the same time, the Czechs saved gas this year. “This year’s heating season was roughly 2.7 percent colder or more demanding for heating than the previous one. It was also more than 14 days longer. However, heat consumption in heating plants, on the contrary, decreased,” says Martin Hájek from the Heating Association of the Czech Republic, for example.

Consumption at heating plants that use gas fell by roughly 11 percent year-on-year. Gas purchased at a high price continues to remain in the reservoirs. “The expensive gas that is in those reservoirs has been partially consumed to a certain extent and is partially replenished with new cheap gas. This means that there is a gradual decrease in prices for consumers,” Síkela explained.

Natural gas these days is the cheapest it has been in two years. On the stock exchange, a megawatt hour was sold for less than 600 crowns – that’s almost a fourfold decrease compared to the end of May last year. According to economists, this is an incentive for consumers to fix the price. The outlook is said to be uncertain. Economists do not remember such significant fluctuations in gas prices as in recent years.

It is likely that the price of gas may drop slightly in the coming months, but experts advise not to wait unnecessarily. “Right now is an interesting time to buy. Waiting for better prices can be risky. Personally, I would buy now,” says, for example, Chief Economist of CFG Vladimír Pikora.

After all, everything can be different again in half a year. It will depend on the further development of the war in Ukraine and on the temperatures. If a hard winter comes, gas prices will shoot up again. On the contrary, the filling of reservoirs may cause a slight reduction in prices.

TN.cz