EU adopts gas market correction mechanism with floating price
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The EU attempts to "protect citizens and the economy against excessively high prices"
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Gas utilities (AP)
The European Union has adopted a mechanism for correcting the gas market with a floating price limit, according to the EU Council on Thursday.
"The Council formally adopted a regulation that sets a market correction mechanism to protect citizens and the economy against excessively high prices.
"The regulation aims to limit episodes of excessive gas prices in the EU that do not reflect world market prices while ensuring the security of energy supply and the stability of financial markets," the statement says.
According to the ICE exchange, gas in Europe ended trading on Thursday, down 5.8% to a price of $1,009.4 per thousand cubic meters, coming on a decline for the fifth day in a row.
TTF's January futures dropped to $996.1 per thousand cubic meters in the last hour of trading. This would mark the first day of trading in three digits since October 25.
On Monday, after four months of the debacle, EU energy ministers agreed on setting a price cap for natural gas with Malta's minister announcing that the threshold was 180 euros per megawatt hour.
"We are speaking about a price cap set at 180 euros," Maltese Energy Minister Miriam Dalli said. "It wasn't an easy thing to achieve."
The deal opens the door to other steps, such as cooperative gas purchases and a prospective new benchmark for gas pricing, to alleviate the energy crisis that Europe is experiencing as a result of its imposed sanctions on Russia.
One group sought to urgently lower gas prices by capping the maximum price that may be charged for the gas used to generate power.
The other, backed by economic powerhouse Germany, was wary of a price restriction that could be triggered too easily and deter the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia's more lucrative markets.
Germany ultimately supported the 180-euro price restriction, which was far less than the 275-euro cap that the European Commission had initially suggested, as per an EU ambassador.
On Monday, the benchmark price for pipeline-delivered natural gas in Europe was trading at just under 112 euros per megawatt hour. Over the summer, it briefly rose to close to 340 euros per megawatt hour.
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the attempt to control gas prices is unacceptable, stressing that Moscow will make the proper decision, as it did with the regulation on oil.
