Ours are coming. In response to Russian gas blackmail, today they showed up in the waters of the Dutch port of Eemshaven the first two regasifiers which will soon allow homes and industries in the Netherlands to be supplied with precious Lng. At the same time, a few kilometers further on, at the Amsterdam gas exchange, the much-talked-about point of reference for natural gas prices, the price slipped to around 200 euros per megawatt, 6% less than the previous day, well below the peaks reached in the wake of the supply cuts practiced by Gazprom.
The fleet of regasification terminals will grow
Of course, just two regasification terminals will not be enough to compensate for the squeeze on Moscow. But, also from a psychological point of view, the arrival of Golar Igloo and Eemshaven Lng represents the signal that the ship Europa, so slow to move, has finally weighed anchor. There fleet of regasification terminals it is in fact destined to grow in the next months. There Germany, in particular, is ready to deploy seven units, including three by winter. They will follow France, Poland e Baltic countries, perhaps preceded by the entry into operation of the Snam ships arriving in the waters of Piombino and Ravenna. Important signals on the eve of day X, tomorrow's meeting of the European Commission which will have to kick off the package of energy measures.
Speculations and derivatives
As always, Europe arrives at the appointment with a conspicuous delay which has favored speculation and extra profits, after having culpably refused for six months the solution of the gas price cap, either because of the German fear of blocking Russian supplies (which punctually has occurred), both for the reluctance of the Northern countries to change the current system, apparently based on gas market prices. But very little has been seen on the market in recent months. A bit like what happened in 2008/09, when the Lehman Brothers crisis had drained liquidity by blowing up the financial market, so the closing of Gazprom's taps caused explode the prices of derivatives.
The problems of large groups
The big names in energy, starting with the German giant Uniper, have had to resort to expensive clearing house contracts, such as the Nasdaq Clearing in Stockholm, to hedge against the risk of non-delivery of gas. But the price of the contracts, to be settled in cash, soon skyrocketed, with the result of leading to the crisis and the subsequent nationalization of the German Uniper, but jeopardizing Edf itself, in addition to the Austrian Vienna Energy and most of the big managers, from Sweden to Finland and so on. Almost everyone has had to allocate urgent measures, forgetting the diktats against state aid so often opposed to the states of southern Europe.
Measurements to come
Faced with this unprecedented reality, a large slice of Europe, starting with Germany, has reluctantly abandoned the prospect of an at least partial agreement with Moscow and is preparing for an epochal change of course.
- Consumption reduction of electricity by 10%.
- Price cap, probably at 200 euros per megawatt hour, on electricity, paid for by the extra profits made with renewables.
- Un solidarity contribution for companies operating in fossil fuels.
- Abolition of restrictions on state aid to support energy companies.
In short, tomorrow's meeting will not be easy. But the emergency, this time, plays for an Italian solution.
