Eesti Gaas will make decision on record prices later this month
It is hard to predict future gas prices due to market instability, chairman of the board of Eesti Gaas Margus Kaasik said on Monday. The company will decide if consumers have to pay record prices of €4.1 per cubic meter in October later this month.
Prices on the gas exchange rose by more than 20 percent on Monday, reaching €258 per megawatt hour. Part of the reason is the suspension of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline's operations which Russia announced on Saturday.
Kaasik said that while a new record was set in August, this morning's stock exchange price was not as high as expected.
But he said the market is still very unstable and it is difficult to predict which direction prices will go in the coming days or weeks.
"We will monitor the situation and decide on the October price for domestic consumers in the second half of the month — if it will stay the previously announced €4.1 per cubic meter, which is the lowest price among major gas sellers in October, remain the true price, or if it is possible to reduce the price," he said.
Kaasik said, in the past, the company has reduced the price when it turns out to be lower than the original forecast.
November prices for customers on flexible packages will be released later this month based on the current forecasts.
Kaasik also confirmed earlier optimistic comments made by Alexela's energy trade portfolio manager Kalvi Nõu who said the price of gas will likely be cheaper than €4 per cubic meter in November. But the chairman said promises cannot be made just yet.
Kaasik also does not believe Eesti Gaas will face problems after the closure of Nord Stream 1.
The UK's Financial Times newspaper reported on Monday that the Kremlin will only restore the flow of gas through Nord Stream 1 when sanctions imposed against Russia due to the war in Ukraine are lifted.
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Editor: Helen Wright