Gas exchange price nears 100 euros: what it means for tariffs

The exchange price of gas has come close to 100 euros, and an increase in prices for households is unavoidable, in the view of one analyst. Even the 80-euro mark was unusually high, said Jiří Havor, an analyst at ENA: it is a very high price, and several factors have driven it at once.

The main reason, according to Havor, is the war in the Middle East. After the February attack on Iran by the United States and Israel, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell noticeably. Before the war, roughly a fifth of the world's consumption of liquefied natural gas and oil passed through it.

Preparations for winter have also gone badly. Because of high prices, underground storage facilities in many countries have not reached even the desired 80 percent, and now the first cold snaps are complicating the filling, with gas injection slowing sharply. Czech storage is about 77 percent full, German storage only 61 percent.

Most traders expected gas to get cheaper and put off their purchases, but prices moved in the opposite direction. In addition, gas-fired sources are increasingly used to balance the grid, since the hydropower that usually helps is exhausted. This adds pressure on the price.

Havor considers a rise in household prices inevitable. Some suppliers have already raised prices on certain offers, and the rest should be expected to follow during the heating season.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz