Page 15 - GLNG Week 01 2023

GLNG EUROPE GLNG

EU agrees on gas price cap

of €180/MWh

PRICES ENERGY ministers of the European Union prices, for the cap to work.
member states reached a consensus on a cap for According to Bloomberg estimates, there
natural gas prices on December 19, according to were more than 40 days in the past year when
the spokesperson for the Czech Republic’s EU European companies would not be able to pur-
presidency, Dmitrij Černikov. chase gas at the peak price in accordance with
Reuters reported, citing an official document, the new rules.
that the new policy states that a cap on gas prices How the ceiling will affect the European
will be implemented at €180 per MWh. market as a whole is not entirely clear – which is
Previously the EU had discussed setting the why regulators talk about a long “watch phase”
upper limit of the gas price cap at €220. Several for the markets both before and after its intro-
nations, including Europe’s biggest economy, duction. On the one hand, the ceiling eliminates
Germany, have opposed the idea of any cap, the threat of unlimited price run-up, which has
saying it could make it harder to secure supplies. come close to the Union this summer.
However, Belgium, Italy and Poland see it as a On the other hand, it weakens the posi-
way to protect consumers and the economy from tion of the European Union in the competitive
the shock of high energy prices. global LNG market, threatens to overflow gas
Under a compromise put forward by the to the non-transparent over-the-counter mar-
Czech Republic, which holds the EU’s rotating ket, increase spot prices and undermine the
presidency, the cap kicks in if prices exceed €180 exchange market and the infrastructure tied to
per MWh for five days on a month-ahead con- it for many years to come. “Such a shift would
tract at the TTF hub in the Netherlands, reported likely not reduce the damage to end consum-
Reuters. At the same time, the TTF price, which ers from price hikes,” Jacob Mandel of Aurora
serves as the European benchmark, must be €35 Energy Research told Bloomberg.™
higher than the reference price for liquefied gas,
based on numerous existing estimates of LNG
Turkey to supply up to 1.5

bcm/year of LNG to Bulgaria

TURKEY will supply up to 1.5bn cubic metres 3bcm.
SUPPLY (bcm) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Bulgaria The term of the agreement between Bulgar-
via its terminals, according to a contract signed gaz and Botas is 13 years. It would give Bulgaria
between Bulgaria’s state-owned gas supplier Bul- access to the LNG network of the Turkish com-
gargaz and Turkey’s government-run natural gas pany and to its LNG terminals.
monopoly Botas on January 3. “Todays’ signing of the document is the first
Bulgaria was almost completely dependent step of a years-long cooperation that would allow
for its natural gas consumption from Russia as our country to buy natural gas from all global
of the end of April 2022 when Gazprom stopped producers,” Bulgaria’s caretaker Energy Minister
supplies after Sofia refused to start paying in Rossen Hristov said in a statement following the
roubles. signing of the contract.
Since then, the country has quickly diversi- The cooperation between the two countries
fied its gas suppliers, with 1bcm annually deliv- was agreed in December during a meeting
ered from Azerbaijan via the Greece-Bulgaria between Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev
gas interconnector and the remainder being and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip
purchased by various suppliers on a monthly Erdogan.™
basis. The country’s annual gas consumption is

Week 01 05•January•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P15