The dispute exposes widening divisions over the shared burden of Europe's winter energy security as member states prepare for upcoming cold weather. Italian official Alessandro Noce claimed German procurement pushed benchmark gas prices over €100 a megawatt-hour instead of an expected €70. German Economy Ministry spokeswoman Susanne Ungrad rejected this, even as she confirmed Germany will miss its scheduled 70% storage target due this Sunday. Italy previously spent roughly €300 million to incentivize private companies to maintain high national storage reserves.
Key points
Susanne Ungrad officially confirmed that Germany will fail to hit its mandatory 70% stora…: Susanne Ungrad officially confirmed that Germany will fail to hit its mandatory 70% storage target due this Sunday.
German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche initially resisted procurement interventions bef…: German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche initially resisted procurement interventions before ordering state-owned SEFE to acquire supplies late last month.
Rome expressed concern that it could be forced to cover German energy deficits if cold wi…: Rome expressed concern that it could be forced to cover German energy deficits if cold winter temperatures hit Europe.
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(Bloomberg) -- Germany pushed back against Italian criticism that last-minute efforts to replenish natural gas inventories are driving up prices across Europe.
“We firmly reject the accusation that the procurement and storage of natural gas, for example through SEFE, which is one of the Italian accusations, that this would drive up European gas prices,” Economy ministry spokeswoman Susanne Ungrad said at a press conference Friday.
The response follows comments from Alessandro Noce, a senior official at Italy’s energy ministry, who blamed recent German stockpiling efforts for helping push benchmark gas prices above €100 a megawatt-hour this week. Noce argued prices would otherwise be closer to €70.
The dispute highlights growing tensions over how the costs of Europe’s energy security are shared as the region heads into winter. Germany’s storage sites are about 62% full, compared with 91% in Italy and an EU average of 75%. Political friction risks intensifying if colder weather tightens supplies and causes prices to spike further.
Late last month, German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche instructed state-owned energy company SEFE Securing Energy for Europe GmbH to procure…
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