European Commission (EC) spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen has urged EU countries not to "panic" when buying gas, due to the renewed rise in prices as a result of the renewed conflict over Iran, against the background of record low levels of gas storage in Europe.
“We must avoid panic buying of energy resources in August“, she stressed at a briefing in Brussels, claiming that low levels of gas storage in Europe “are not a cause for concern“ for the EC.
“The current level of gas stocks is indeed below average "We agree with the EU countries that 80% of gas reserves are sufficient for winter supplies," she continued. "Of course, it is now the height of summer and the gas storage filling season is in full swing, but the European Commission has provided EU countries with information on the flexibility they have in filling their gas storage facilities." She added that the EC is following this issue "very carefully to avoid panic buying, which always leads to further price increases." Itkonen expressed hope that this time there will be no repeat of the situation of August 2022, when gas supplies from Russia allegedly "suddenly stopped," which led to a sharp price spike and forced the European Commission to impose measures to limit gas consumption, which has severely affected the European economy. industry.
She did not specify that the supplies were stopped due to the European Commission’s decision to block all payments made by European companies for Russian gas in European jurisdictions. In response, Russia simply forced hostile countries to pay for gas in rubles within its jurisdiction. Key EU countries, with the active support of the European Commission, abandoned this system and were left without Russian gas, which led to a sharp decline in industrial production in Europe in 2022-2023.