EC wants permanent system of joint gas purchases after strong interest

Following the success of its temporary system for joint gas purchases, the European Commission wants to switch to a permanent mechanism. Reuters reported this today, citing internal documents from the European Union executive and Commission officials. Companies will be able to participate in joint tenders voluntarily; only in crisis situations will the aggregation of demand be mandatory, to prevent gas companies from EU countries from outbidding one another.

The EU launched its first international tender for joint gas purchases in the spring, aiming to fill storage facilities before winter and prevent a repeat of last year's record rise in energy prices. Dozens of companies signed up straight away, with total demand of 27 billion cubic metres—twice Brussels' original forecast. Storage facilities have been filled to 90 percent, and market prices are significantly lower than last year.

However, EU officials want to prepare member states for possible exceptional situations, such as an outage of the key Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Reuters reports that the Commission therefore plans to take advantage of the strong demand and extend joint purchases, originally planned to run until December, indefinitely.