This concerns the ceiling that came into effect in February to prevent peaks in the price of gas due to the war in Ukraine and the sharply reduced deliveries of Russian gas to Europe. This ceiling of 180 euros per megawatt hour comes into effect if the gas price exceeds the limit for three working days or more and the price is also at least 35 euros higher than the global target price for liquefied gas (LNG) for three days.
According to diplomats FT spoke to in Brussels, there are “no indications of negative effects” of the measure. Gas prices are now almost 90 percent lower than last year and gas storages in Europe are well filled. However, this does not mean that all risks have disappeared, experts have been warning for some time.
“We don’t know what will happen this year. We have the situation in Israel and we don’t know how that will affect imports from the Middle East,” the newspaper said. The insiders also say that the alleged sabotage of a gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia earlier this month is a concern. Therefore, it would be “good for Europe to have insurance”.
European natural gas prices rose again on Friday due to fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East. Previously, gas prices fell due to milder weather forecasts for Europe and efforts by the United States to contain the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant movement Hamas. On the Amsterdam gas exchange, the price for deliveries in November actually rose by more than 2 percent on Friday morning to 51.25 euros per megawatt hour. On a weekly basis, the gas price had fallen slightly. However, the price is still about 35 percent above the level before Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7. Last week, gas prices even reached their highest level since February.