EU Countries Agree On Gas Price Cap To Contain Energy Crisis  

• European Union energy ministers on Monday, Dec. 19 agreed on a gas price cap after weeks of talks on the emergency measure that has split opinion across the bloc as it seeks to tame the energy crisis. The cap is the 27-country EU's latest attempt to lower gas prices that have pushed citizens' energy bills higher and driven record-high inflation this year after Russia cut off most of its gas deliveries to Europe.
• Ministers agreed to trigger a cap if prices exceed 180 euros per megawatt hour for three days on the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) gas hub's front-month contract, which serves as the European benchmark, EU officials and a document seen by Reuters showed.
• The cap can be triggered starting from Feb. 15 2023, the document detailing the final deal showed. The deal will be formally approved by countries in writing, after which it can enter into force. Once implemented, it would prevent any trades on the front-month to front-year TTF contracts at a price more than 35 euros/MWh above a reference level based on existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) price assessments, two EU officials told Reuters.
• The deal follows months of debate on the idea and two previous emergency meetings that failed to clinch an agreement among countries that disagreed on whether a price cap would help or hinder Europe's attempts to contain the energy crisis.

(Source: Reuters)