Gas prices in Europe will remain high, probably until the spring of 2022, after which they should begin to decline, said European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson. At the same time, by the end of the year, the European Commission will submit proposals on reforming the gas market in order to prevent such price spikes in the future.
“Market expectations indicate that gas prices will remain high over the winter and should gradually decline from spring next year based on the current demand forecast,” Simson said at a plenary session of the European Parliament.
According to her, against the background of such a situation, it is necessary in the future to increase the readiness and resilience of Europe to price surges, which weaken the economy of the community, affect the welfare of the citizens of the member states, weakening competition and increasing inflation. According to Simson, “liquid gas markets” need to be created while simultaneously building on the development of renewable energy. By the end of the year, I will present a reform of the gas market, in the context of which issues related to storage and security of supply will be reviewed, ”added Simson.
Earlier today, five EU member states – France, Spain, Czech Republic, Greece and Romania – offered to investigate the reasons for the record rise in gas prices in Europe. They proposed creating a common toolkit for the community’s reaction to gas price surges, general principles for gas storage, coordinating fuel purchases, and reforming the wholesale electricity market. The latter, in particular, implies the establishment of a link between the price for end users and the cost of electricity production.
As of today, October 6, the price of November futures on the Dutch gas hub TTF during the trading on October 6 for the first time in history overcame the $ 1,600 per thousand cubic meter mark, follows from the data of the London stock exchange ICE. So, at 9:42 am Moscow time, the price of the November futures reached 131.3 euros per MWh, or $ 1604.28 per thousand cubic meters. The daily growth was 13.17%.
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