Oct 6, 2021 - Energy & Climate

Natural gas rides the roller coaster as policy ideas fly

Ben Geman

Gas burns on a domestic oven hob in Spain. — Photo: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg via Getty Images

European gas prices soared again today to fresh records, but then began falling after Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled Russia would boost supply — gyrations that come as European Union officials struggle with the immediate crisis and how to prevent the next one.

Driving the news: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said EU leaders will discuss creating a strategic natural gas storage reserve, per S&P Global Platts and other outlets.

And finance ministers from France, Spain, Greece, Czech Republic and Romania are jointly calling for new EU gas and power policies.
They include a "toolkit to coordinate national responses to immediately react to dramatic price surges," as well as common guidelines on gas storage and wholesale power market reform. Bloomberg has more.

What they're saying: Via Reuters, von der Leyen this morning said investment in renewables is an important way to help avoid future spikes.

"For us, it's very clear that with energy in the long term it is important to invest in renewables that gives us stable prices and more independence because 90% of the gas is imported to the European Union."

Go deeper: Natural gas price surge puts new focus on LNG

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Natural gas rides the roller coaster as policy ideas fly

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