Negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU member states have provisionally agreed to ease the bloc’s natural gas storage targets by allowing a 10 percentage point deviation in the 90% full storage goal, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing a draft document it has seen.
The greater flexibility comes in response to the fears by several large gas-consuming nations in Europe that they would have to either subsidize storage filling when it’s uneconomical, or miss the targets.
Countries will also be allowed a longer timeframe for reaching the 90% target, instead of the currently fixed deadline by November 1.
The EU countries and the European Parliament are expected to complete the negotiations on the EU’s gas storage targets by June 24.
Earlier this year, European Union members agreed to give more flexibility to the natural gas storage goals by expanding the period in which countries should have 90% full storage ahead of the winter and could deviate by up to 10 percentage points from the filling target.
The EU supported the European Commission’s proposal to extend the gas storage regulation by two years. But EU member states also want more flexibility in reaching the filling target to avoid price spikes if market conditions are tight.
The EU countries propose that the existing binding 90% filling targets should be reached anytime between October 1 and December 1, instead of the current deadline of November 1.
The EU also agreed that in case of unfavorable market conditions – such as possible market manipulations— member states may deviate by up to 10% from the filling target.
The EU negotiating mandate with the European Parliament also says that intermediary storage targets for each member state in February, May, July, and September are not binding but only indicative in order to achieve storage filling and predictability while leaving sufficient flexibility for market participants throughout the year.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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