(Tiper Stock Exchange) – The price of gas continues to fall on the Amsterdam TTF futures marketwhere the contract for January delivery has reached a value of 103 euros per mWh, down by more than 5% compared to the eve. Already yesterday afternoon there was a sharp contraction of 6% following the news of theagreement reached in the EU on the price cap (price ceiling) of gas
The meeting of European energy ministers, which followed the summit last weekendhas given the definitive go-ahead for setting a limit value for gas, beyond which an emergency price determination procedure will be triggered. The agreement was reached by qualified majority, since the Netherlands and Austria abstained and Hungary voted against.
The price cap or ceiling on the price of gas was set at 180 euros per mWh, on a medium-low level compared to the range of negotiations between 160 and 220 euros per mWh. The maximum level reached during the crisis was 275 euros.
Reached this price level for at least twenty days (dynamic price cap) or a price 35 euros higher than the price of LNG on international markets, the alternative price calculation mechanism will be triggered, unrelated to the Amsterdam TTF market. The market correction mechanism comes monitored by Acer which, in the event of a security of supply emergency, can deactivate the cap immediately.
In addition to the definition of the price cap, the agreement reached by the leaders and the Energy Ministers at the last meeting of the year also includes the common purchases of gas and a relief mechanism for countries in difficulty with supplies. Lacks one last piece to be achieved for the energy market: the decoupling of the price of gas from that of electricity.
“It is a victory for Italy”, exulted the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni from Rome, while the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratinwho was in Brussels together with his European colleagues, declared that “the will to keep the EU united prevailed” and that “the first step to calm the bills” has been taken.
Moscow’s reaction was somewhat negative, also because this agreement could hit Russia’s coffers hard. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov he spoke of an “unacceptable agreement that distorts the market” and announced a reaction.