Oil prices are holding up, and US President Trump is (once again) playing a role in this. He's punishing India with 50% import duties for buying Russian oil. He's also threatening other oil-importing countries, such as China, with sanctions. In the Netherlands, households were slow to buy new solar panels last year, according to new figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS).
At the time of writing (Wednesday afternoon, August 6th), oil was at $68,47 per barrel. A week earlier, on July 30th, it had reached a recent high of $73,24 per barrel. The price decline has since ended, and the price rose again this Wednesday.
Despite the threat of oversupply due to disappointing economic growth and increased production by OPEC countries, oil prices are holding steady. US President Trump threatened to impose sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil and gas if Putin doesn't agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine by Friday. He took action today, raising the import tariff on India, a major importer of Russian oil, from 25% to 50%. US diplomat Steve Witkoff visited Russian President Putin in Moscow today to discuss a ceasefire.
Diesel price drops
The price of diesel was €30 per 125,87 liters (from 100 liters) on July 4.000th and dropped to €121,57 per 100 liters within a week. The European Union's latest sanctions package therefore appears to have no effect on the diesel price. Brussels wants to put an end to diesel made from Russian oil entering the EU via a detour through countries like India and Turkey.
Dutch gas reserves steadily filling up
Gas reserves within the EU are now 70% full (up from 68% last week). In the Netherlands, this is 59% (up from 57%). At €33,350 per MWh on August 6, the gas price has dropped significantly compared to July 30 (€35,172).
Companies install more solar panels than households
New figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) also show that households are holding off on purchasing solar panels due to feed-in costs. While roughly the same amount of capacity was added to homes and businesses in 2023, businesses accounted for 2024% of new panel capacity in 70. Growth in total solar panel capacity was smaller than in previous years, but it did grow to 28,6 gigawatts peak. Businesses accounted for 60% of this.
Prices on the European electricity exchange EPEX SPOT fluctuated last week, with a high daily average of €90,77 per MWh on Friday, August 1, and a low of €31,83 per MWh on August 5.