EU to launch joint gas purchases next month
The EU plans to launch a tender next month on the joint purchase of natural gas supplies, marking its first step towards creating a buyers' cartel in a bid to drive down price, Bloomberg reported on March 7.
There is demand among the bloc's 27 member states and three neighbouring countries to jointly purchase 24bn m3 of gas over the next three years, initial estimates show, according to European Commission vice president Maros Sefocovic. The EU expects the first contracts to be signed with suppliers around June.
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"We clearly need to turn the economic tide in Europe," Sefcovic told Bloomberg. "I believe we're creating a new system that will increase competition and bring in new suppliers and push energy prices down. Since we started this exercise, there's enormous interest from international suppliers."
Interest in joint purchases has been expressed by industrial gas users in sectors including steel, aluminium, ceramics, glass and automotive production, Sefcovic said. There is also interest from 50 suppliers around the world in participation, he said.
After the first tender is completed, joint purchases will be arranged on a more regular basis to ensure the EU has sufficient gas in stock, Sefcovic continued. The bloc's gas storage facilities are currently 59% full – an historic high for this time of year.