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The rest is under the control of international companies, energy companies and industrial groups that can sell it to whoever is most convenient, according to the newspaper.
Bloomberg: European governments control only 10% of the natural gas in their deposits
The European authorities control only 10 % of the gas that they currently have in their deposits, while the rest is under the control of commercial organizations, Bloomberg reports this Thursday.
“Only around % of the gas in storage facilities, from Italy to the Netherlands, is under the direct control of public officials through national strategic reserves,” reads the Bloomberg publication.
In this context, the remaining natural gas “is in the hands of international trading companies, companies energy companies and industrial groups and companies are free to sell it to the highest bidder, even if it is in another country”. The media indicates that there are no specific data on the entities that have control, but most of them belong to public service companies, among which are state companies.
In addition, the European gas supply network must allow gas to flow between markets. However, Graham Freedman, an analyst at consultancy Wood Mackenzie, stated that “the practicalities of the system have never really been tested before”, adding that how the situation develops “will depend on how severe this winter is”. In case of a cold winter, it is possible that the volume of gas in the tanks drops below the 10% by the end of March.
At the same time, Bloomberg points out that, in order to guarantee the supply of gas, the governments of the countries Europeans can declare a state of emergency which would allow them to authorize or prohibit the pumping of gas from their deposits.
