Those who have opted for Eesti Gaas' flexible package currently pay 42 cents per a cubic meter of natural gas, while this will grow to 49 cents from June.

Eesti Gaas CEO Margus Kaasik said that several events in the first half of April affected world market prices.

"Attacks in Israel and targeting Ukrainian gas storage facilities, unscheduled maintenance in Norway and the Freeport LNG terminal (in Texas, USA), which is one of the world's largest. These things coincided with growing oil and CO2 quota prices, which made alternative fuels more expensive and added to natural gas demand," he said, adding that April was also much colder than usual.

That said, Kaasik does not believe the world market price of gas will keep growing.

The market has calmed and prices have started to come down again. Tensions in the Middle East have not exploded. Freeport and Norwegian liquification volumes are bouncing back and the weather has become warmer. European storage is being filled and has reached 62 percent capacity, which is a lot for the summer season. Provided additional geopolitical risks do not materialize, I see no reason for gas prices to rise much," he said.

Eesti Gaas lowered the flexible package price to 42 cents in April. The price started falling at the beginning of 2024 after reaching 75 cents per cubic meter last December.

Eesti Gaas competitor Alexela told ERR that its changing price packages will become more expensive as a result of world market price advance and more expensive gas futures.

"Summer is usually when natural gas is stockpiled in storage facilities," Tarmo Kärsna, head of energy sales for Alexela, said.

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