Energy Min.: Greece does not agree with imposing a cap on the supply of Russian gas

The Greek state is in favour of a solution to set a maximum price for the Dutch TTF and against the imposition of a cap on the supply of Russian gas, differentiating its policy in relation to the measures announced by the Commission, on Wednesday.

In a statement to protothema.gr, Greek Environment and Energy Minister, Mr Kostas Skrekas said he will support this position at the Energy Council of Ministers, on Friday.

The extraordinary meeting

The energy crisis is set to take centre stage at tomorrow’s meeting of European Union energy ministers, following Vladimir Putin’s threat of an energy blackout in Europe.

The aim of the meeting, which will take place in Brussels, is to reach agreement on measures to tackle the energy crisis.

The member states

After the Czech Republic announced yesterday (Thursday) that it disagrees with the price cap on natural gas, considering it a political tool and not an effective solution, other countries such as Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Greece also expressed serious objections.

Germany is a country that remains hesitant on the idea.

Xifaras: TTF is not a reliable indicator

On the other hand, Chief Executive Officer of Public Gas Corporation of Greece (DEPA) SA, Mr Konstantinos Xifaras, points out that the index currently used (the Dutch TTF) no longer reflects the balance between supply and demand, is unreliable and leads, due to speculative movements, to extremely high prices.

In particular, Mr Xifaras points out the following: The Greek government has submitted proposals to European leaders to address the current crisis and future challenges. I believe that the TTF no longer reflects the balance between supply and demand and we have to accept that it should not be the main benchmark for gas in Europe.

The current supply of LNG in Europe combined with the high levels of gas storage already achieved should have led to lower price levels.

We cannot accept the speculation caused by derivatives trading that has led to excessively high gas prices, which do not reflect the true cost of gas. The volume of gas traded on the TTF is 100 times greater than the volume of gas traded on the Dutch market.

The imbalance started already before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and this indicator is no longer reliable. Obviously, it would be more efficient for the EU to create a new market index with a reference based on the actual balance of supply and demand.