The European Parliament approved on Tuesday eased rules and targets for natural gas storage refills in the EU in a move aimed at preventing price spikes.
Earlier this year, the EU member states agreed to ease the bloc’s natural gas storage targets by allowing a 10 percentage point deviation in the 90% full storage goal.
The greater flexibility comes in response to the fears of several large gas-consuming nations in Europe that they would have to either subsidize storage filling when it’s uneconomical or miss the targets.
The new targets and greater flexibility to achieve them needed to be endorsed by both the EU member states and the European Parliament.
The Parliament approved today the eased targets with 542 votes to 109, with 30 abstentions.
Under the softened rules, the EU member states should reach the target of 90% full storage anytime between October 1 and December 1, instead of an unmoving target by November 1, as it was the case in previous years.
The EU countries are also given the possibility to deviate by up to 10 percentage points from the filling target in the event of difficult market conditions, such as indications of speculation hindering cost-effective storage filling.
“The Commission may further increase this deviation by a further five percentage points by means of a delegated act, for one filling season, if these market conditions persist,” the European Parliament said.
The 90% storage filling obligation was extended by two years, until the end of 2027.
“This revision will provide for more flexibility and less bureaucracy but, above all, it will bring Europe’s gas prices down, while we continue advancing towards energy independence from unreliable suppliers,” said rapporteur Borys Budka of the Christian Democrat European People’s Party (EPP).
Following the approval by the European Parliament, the eased targets must now be formally approved by the EU member states, with this step expected to pass without amendments.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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