When it comes to capping the price of gas, “there is resistance because we don’t make the same predictions about what would happen after a cap is set.” Prime Minister Mario Draghi stated this at a press conference at the end of the European Council. “Some companies fear that the roof will provoke reactions from Russian suppliers. Then the reality is very complicated: the companies in the north supply the Norwegian gas and the profits of the Norwegian government amounted to 150 billion dollars in the latter. This demonstrates the extraordinary size of the gains” as well as “the resistance to the price cap which would eventually decrease but certainly would not erase those gains”.
“Liquid gas can be bought anywhere, so you are not tied to Russian production, while gas is delivered with pipes. The idea of setting a price cap follows the same line of reasoning on the other hand, only one buyer, the one on the other side of the tube, namely Europe, which incidentally is the world’s largest consumer of natural gas and therefore has strong market power, which is why President of the Leyen has suggested the possibility of a joint merger purchases to be coordinated by the European Commission”.
REGASIFIERS “The United States has promised to help Europe, the sanctions are hitting Europe much harder than the United States, that’s why ‘Biden’ has indicated a willingness to help Europe.” The 15 billion cubic meters of liquefied gas in the United States “we will see how they are distributed, but in a proportion that does not cause disagreement. The important thing is to see if we have regasifiers. We have 3: one very large, two small, Minister Cingolani has instructed Snam to buy two more floating vessels, not on land. We hope to be able to absorb our share.”
GAS IN RUBLES? BREACH OF CONTRACT “I confirm that “the Russian request for payment in rubles for gas is considered a violation of existing contracts which stipulate that payment must be made in euros or dollars. The Commission will now examine the legal aspects. We do not expect any reduction in shipments “by Moscow anyway. “As evidence of how Russia is using its market power, what we, as the largest buyers, should use notes Draghi is the fact that it is paying in rubles for Gazprom, which exports gas with tubes, but not for the companies that produce LPG, because LPG can be bought anywhere”.