Following Russia’s curtailment of exports to Europe, a top energy official has warned that gas prices for German consumers could triple in the upcoming months.
According to Klaus Müller, head of Germany’s federal network agency, Moscow cut the flow of gas via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline by 40% last week, claiming technical justifications that Berlin dismisses as a ruse. This prompted a four- to six-fold increase in market pricing.
Müller added that although such “enormous leaps in price” were unlikely to be totally passed on to consumers, Germans needed to prepare for sharply higher prices. He told the public channel ARD that “a doubling or triple is possible.”
He said that increased gas market prices last autumn were the cause of the rising expenses now being reflected on people’s energy bills.
In announcing the second of three phases of its energy emergency plan on Thursday, Germany’s economic ministry warned of a significant possibility of long-term supply shortages as a result of Russia’s persistent interruption of gas exports.
Utility companies can pass on high gas rates to customers during the so-called “alarm phase,” which helps to reduce demand.
When the Nord Stream 1 must be shut down for a 10-day yearly inspection starting on July 13, the minister for economic affairs, Robert Habeck, stated there was some worry that Russian gas deliveries will completely stop.
Habeck responded, “I would be dishonest if I said it isn’t anything I worry about,” when asked by the RTL Nachtjournal show if he was concerned that Vladimir Putin might not turn the gas tap back on after the predetermined interruption.
According to Müller, Germany could survive for a little over two months without supplies of Russian gas. He said on Thursday night’s Maybrit Illner program, “If the storage facilities in Germany were mathematically 100% filled… we could do without Russian gas totally… for just about two and a half months, and then the storage tanks will be empty.
