EU joint gas purchases restart, but with seasonal tenders

Brussels – Applications open until February 21 to collect the aggregate demand for gas at a European level and put it on the international market. For the first time since the EU Joint Procurement Platform was born, this will be a ‘mid-term tender’ in which buyers can apply for seasonal six-month periods from April 2024 to October 2029. Once demand from European companies has been collected, the tenders to collect international bids will be on February 26-27.

As has been the case so far, once supply and demand are matched through the platform, the various companies negotiate their contracts bilaterally. These tenders are intended to support industrial consumers and support sellers in identifying buyers who might be interested in a longer trading partnership – that is, up to five years. Last year, four rounds of joint purchases were launched from April to December, in which the European AggregateEu platform matched more than 42 billion cubic meters of gas to cover European demand. The first round closed mid-May with bids for more than 13 billion cubic meters of gas, against a total demand of 11.6 billion cubic meters requested by EU companies. Applications and bids were matched for about 10.9 billion cubic meters of gas between EU member states and Ukraine, Moldova, and the Western Balkans that joined the joint procurement platform. The second tender closed on July 10, with 25 international suppliers responding with bids for 15.19 billion cubic meters of gas to meet the aggregate European demand of 15.92 billion cubic meters.

The third tender opened in September and closed with a demand of 16.49 billion cubic meters of gas and supply bids of 18.1 billion cubic meters. Finally, the last tender closed in early December with 9.13 billion cubic meters of bids in response to an aggregate European demand of 10.06 billion cubic meters (with matched volumes of 7.35 billion cubic meters). European energy ministers decided in December to extend the gas solidarity regulation that forms the legal basis for the platform for another year after expiring at the end of 2023. “To address the energy supply and price crises after Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, we have bundled and combined our gas demand to attract better deals on the international market for European energy users,” clarifies Executive Vice President for the Green Deal Maros Sefcovic. “The new medium-term product we are launching today will continue to offer stability in the years to come. The worst must be behind us, but markets remain tight, and we need to create as much security as possible.”