Italy blames German last-minute gas buying for prices above €100
Germany rejects the accusation from an Italian energy ministry official, as European gas passes €100 per megawatt hour this week.
A senior Italian energy ministry official says Germany's last-minute gas buying is helping to push European gas prices above €100 per megawatt hour this week. Germany's economics ministry rejects the claim.
Alessandro Noce, Director-General at the Italian energy ministry, told a conference he is alarmed to hear that a European country chose not to fill its gas storage because it was said to be busy privatising its energy companies. "We're being hit twice: we paid €300m to fill our gas storage, and now we're paying more for gas because the Germans are buying. It really makes me angry," he said.
A spokesperson for the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy said: "We resolutely reject the accusation that the purchase and storage of natural gas by SEFE (one of the German gas companies) drives up European gas prices." The spokesperson called the claim that Germany neglected to fill storage during the privatisation of SEFE and Uniper, both German energy companies, unfounded.
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SEFE
SEFE (Securing Energy for Europe) is a German energy company, owned by the German state, that buys, stores and trades natural gas. In Germany it is a key player in gas supply, and its storage and purchasing decisions are watched closely because they can affect gas prices in the wider European market.