The Netherlands is going to extract more natural gas from the North Sea in order not to be dependent on other countries. In the area of oil, American President Donald Trump now has a price-raising effect. He is taking a milder tone towards China and is also taking a stand against the chairman of the American central bank.
Yesterday (23 April) an agreement was signed by the cabinet, Energie Beheer Nederland and industry association Element NL 'to extract the remaining natural gas in the North Sea responsibly'. According to Minister Sophie Hermans of Climate and Green Growth, gas will remain necessary for the time being 'in the transition to a climate-neutral energy system'. "For years, the Netherlands has been importing more gas than we produce ourselves. A large part of it comes from far away, which leads to extra emissions during extraction, transport and processing. That is why the cabinet wants to source the necessary gas from our own soil as much as possible, because it makes us less dependent and it is better for the climate," the minister says in a statement.
According to Jan-Willem van Hoogstraten, CEO of Energie Beheer Nederland, American LNG causes more CO2 emissions than Dutch gas and the latter is also good for the economy: "There is still at least 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas under the Dutch North Sea. This natural gas can make a major contribution to our energy independence, affordability and is therefore not only better for the environment, but also for the economy." One of the agreements made is that extra efforts will be made to find gas for more gas production.
The gas price is slightly lower on Wednesday 35,66 April (€23) on the TTF compared to last Thursday (€34,05). The Dutch filling level of the gas stock is now 24%, slightly more than last week and still lower than the European average (37%, was 36% last week).
oil price
Last Thursday (April 17), Brent crude was trading at $67,96 per barrel. That was the highest level since April 2, the day Trump announced tariffs with much fanfare, when a barrel of oil was still selling for $74,95. At the time of writing (Wednesday afternoon, April 23), oil is trading slightly lower than last week at $67,09 per barrel. However, it is above the low of April 8, when it was $62,82.
Trump's new course?
On the one hand, oil prices were driven up this week by US sanctions on Iran and a seemingly new course from Trump. The US president said he would not fire Jay Powell, the chairman of the US central bank - whom he previously called a "loser" for not cutting interest rates. Trump also said that import duties on Chinese goods would be significantly reduced.
A statement from Kazakhstan actually had a price-depressing effect. The country announced that it would give more weight to its own national interests than to those of OPEC+. According to Reuters, several OPEC+ countries, including Saudi Arabia, are angry with Kazakhstan. The country is not adhering to the oil cartel's production restrictions and also produced more in March.
Diesel
The price of diesel has risen again, from €118,64 per 100 litres (from 4.000 litres) on Thursday 18 April to €119,30 per 100 litres on Wednesday 23 April.
Electricity prices
Electricity prices at the EPEX Spot fluctuated last week between €63,21 on Saturday, April 19 and €110,76 on Tuesday, April 22.
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