Fearing price moves, Italy to act quickly to build gas stockpiles
23/01/2025 09:29
ROME, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Italy plans to make an early
start on filling strategic gas stockpiles in 2025, the country's
energy minister said on Thursday, as Rome expects gas wholesale
prices to spike higher in the summer.
Gas is usually bought and stored between April and October
when demand and prices are lower, to be sold later in winter
when prices rise.
But Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said in parliament
Rome would start filling procedures as early as February to
avoid risks of getting caught out by unusual price movements.
"Due to ongoing geopolitical tensions and possible
speculation, there is a risk for 2025 that wholesale gas prices
next summer will be higher than next winter, as was the case
during the energy crisis of 2022," he added.
Germany is acting in a similar way as it is studying the
possibility of contractors receiving subsidies to refill gas
storage sites.
Fears of an energy shock have risen after Ukraine refused to
renew a gas transit agreement with Russia, marking the end of
decades of Moscow's dominance on Europe's energy markets.
The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub
TRNLTTFMc1 was little changed at 49.67 euros per megawatt hour
(MWh), hovering near the highest levels for over a year,
according to LSEG data on Thursday.
Pichetto also renewed calls for the European Union to extend
an emergency cap on gas prices and prevent a possible energy
price shock.
Brussels introduced a price limit of 180 euros per megawatt
hour (eur/MWh) in December 2022, after months of cripplingly
high energy prices caused by Russia slashing gas supplies
following its invasion of Ukraine.
The scheme has never kicked in and the European Union
intends to let it expire as scheduled at the end of this month.
"We are campaigning for structural mechanisms to be put in
place to prevent speculation from driving up gas prices on the
TTF," Pichetto said.
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte
Editing by Keith Weir)
((giuseppe.fonte@thomsonreuters.com; +390680307711;))