The gas market remains volatile. Although the gas price fell after the announcement of several emergency packages, the price is on the rise again. Falling temperatures and further hardening of the war in Ukraine seem to be the cause. This does not mean that governments are sitting still, because the new European gas policy is slowly but surely taking concrete forms.
Since the price of natural gas on the TTF reached its peak of the week on Wednesday 14 September with a price of €217,88 per MWh, the price has fallen considerably. After Friday, September 16, the gas price remained consistently below €200. On September 19, gas cost €182,26 per MWh.
The decrease in this period seems to be related, among other things, to the support packages that the European Union and various Member States have recently adopted. However, this decline will not continue. At the time of writing this article, the price is rising above €200 for the first time in six days with a position of €201 per MWh.
The supply of gas from Russia remains a thorny issue. The Nord Stream is still not in operation and it is expected that this will not change in the short term. The self-declared people's republics in eastern Ukraine have called a referendum on joining Russia. This caused the necessary unrest. President Putin went the extra mile today (Wednesday, September 21) by declaring a partial mobilization of the Russian army. Part of the gas supplies to the EU are pipelined through Ukraine. The question is whether and for how long this can continue now that Russia is so clearly aiming for a further hardening of the war in Ukraine.
Stock Location
However, the listing on the TTF does not continue to rise as we saw a few weeks ago. The measures taken by both the EU and the individual Member States appear to be having an effect. The stock build-up in particular inspires confidence in the market. The European filling level stands at about 86%. That is just above the five-year average. Germany is ahead of the pack, their gas storage facilities are 90% full.
Nevertheless, the gas market remains shaky. The German government announced that it would nationalize energy company Uniper. The country is buying 8% of the shares of the Finnish parent company Forum for €78 billion. This means that Germany will own 98,5% of the company. With this, the government hopes to prevent the bankruptcy of Germany's largest importer of Russian gas. Uniper accounts for approximately 40% of the gas deliveries in Germany.
Germany is also investing in LNG. On Tuesday, the government announced that it would make €2,5 billion in additional loans available to guarantee the supply of LNG. The German government has decided on the increase because €1,5 billion of €15 billion in previously available loans has already been spent. The Netherlands is also not standing still in this area. Converted, more than 20 million m3 of liquefied gas has already entered via the LNG terminal in Eemshaven, which has just been put into use.
Yesterday on Budget Day, the Dutch government announced its long-awaited plans for interventions in the energy market. In the Netherlands, too, following the example of other EU countries, a price ceiling is being set. The government is thinking of "a maximum price of €1,50 for gas and €0,70 for electricity." However, the measure is limited to consumers and applies to consumption of up to 1.200 cubic meters of gas and up to 2.400 KWh of electricity.
The business community is not getting along well in the plans. Minister Mickey Adriaansens of Economic Affairs and Climate announced in Nieuwsuur that measures for SMEs are still being discussed. The government expects to have emergency measures for the business community ready in November. The support package is mainly aimed at SMEs.