Joint EU gas purchases to restart Feb. 15

Brussels – Joint EU gas purchases will resume on Feb. 15, with the launch of the first call for “medium-term” tenders,  that is, on a six-month basis. With the new year, the European Commission will allow buyers to submit their application for seasonal periods of 6 months (minimum 1,800,000 MWh for Liquefied Natural Gas) from April 2024 to October 2029, not for one year.

“At the beginning of 2024, the effects of the energy crisis are not yet over, and to meet the growing demand for stability and predictability from buyers and sellers of natural gas,” the European aggregation platform AggregateEU “is introducing mid-term tenders,” the European Commission explains.

Last year four rounds of joint EU-wide procurement tenders were held in all, in which more than 54 billion cubic metres of gas demand were aggregated from European companies and more than 61 billion cubic metres were offered by international suppliers. The first round closed in mid-May with bids for more than 13 billion cubic metres of gas, against a total demand of 11.6 billion cubic metres requested by EU companies. 

Supply and demand were matched for about 10.9 billion cubic metres of gas, between EU member states and Ukraine, Moldova, and the Western Balkans that have joined the joint procurement platform. The second tender closed last July 10, with a total of 25 international suppliers responding to the tender with bids for 15.19 billion cubic metres of gas to meet the aggregate European demand of 15.92 billion cubic metres.

The third tender opened in September and closed in response to the demand of 16.49 billion cubic metres of gas and supply bids of 18.1 billion cubic metres. Finally, the last tender closed in early December with 9.13 billion cubic metres of bids in response to an aggregate European demand of 10.06 billion cubic metres (with matched volumes of 7.35 billion cubic metres). The European energy ministers decided in December to extend for another year the gas solidarity regulation that forms the legal basis for the platform, which expired at the end of last year