As the EU economy slips into recession, countries are preparing plans to help the economy and population survive the coming winter due to an energy crisis not seen since the "oil shock" of the 1970s.
Gas on European exchanges reached almost 3.000 euros per 1000 cubic meters (about 280 euros per megawatt hour), and this price is for next year's orders.
On the market in Germany, at the end of last week, gas cost 3.100 euros per 1000 cubic meters if it was bought for the next day. From the ratio of these prices, it is clear that the situation is not expected to improve next year, on the contrary.
Last year, 1000 cubic meters of gas cost around 270 euros.
In the electricity market, the situation is even more dramatic. On Friday, a contract was signed on the French energy exchange at an incredible price, 1.070 euros per megawatt hour for the next year.
In Germany, a contract was concluded on Friday at a price of 890 euros per megawatt hour. By comparison, the wholesale price of electricity in Germany four years ago was 54 euros per megawatt hour.
The price of electricity is mainly due to the price of gas. The price of electricity in European markets is formed on the basis of the price of the most expensive kilowatt produced, which in this situation is the electricity produced by gas-fired power plants. They produce about 20 percent of electricity in the EU.
To make the picture complete, oil again crossed the mark of 100 dollars per barrel, while not so long ago, during the pandemic of 2020, the price fell to about twenty dollars and there were cases when oil owners had no one to turn to. they sold it to him and had to pay for its storage.
The EU imports 400 billion cubic meters of gas per year, of which 40 percent came from Russia until the war in Ukraine started on February 24, 2022. /"Danas"
