This image from March 2022 shows wind turbines and gas storage facilities in Germany. Europe’s energy markets have experienced turbulence in recent months.
Jan Voitas | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Italian power company CEO inel CNBC reported on Tuesday that the turbulence in energy markets was likely to persist for some time.
“Things are extremely turbulent, as they have been all year, I would say,” Francesco Starese said.
“The volatility we’re going to have is going to be there – it may change the pattern a little bit, but we’re looking at a year or two of extreme volatility in the energy markets,” he said.
Stares’ comments, made during Goldman Sachs’ Carbonnomics conference in London, come at a time of uncertainty for the energy sector following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
were russia Largest supplier of both natural gas and petroleum oil to the EU in 2021, but gas exports from Russia to the EU have declined this year.
“Despite the available production and transport capacity, Russia has reduced its gas supplies to the EU by close to 50% annually since the beginning of 2022,” international energy agency said in its gas market report last month.
“In the current context, a complete shutdown of Russian pipeline gas supplies to the EU cannot be excluded before the 2022/23 heating season – when the European gas market is most vulnerable.”
Given this decline in Russian imports, major European economies are trying to increase supplies for the coming colder months. According to data from industry group Gas Infrastructure Europe, EU gas storage is estimated to be 93.9% full.
During his interview with CNBC, Enel’s Starus painted a mixed picture when it comes to gas storage.
He told Steve Sedgwick, “I think we’ll survive the winter by being able to fill all the storage, and then we’ll find out we have to refill the storage for the next winter…without the Russian gas.” ” ,
Stares said, “Let’s not forget that we had this ’22 – less and less – but we had it.” “A lot of things need to happen so that next winter is safe.”
He said Europe needed to save gas “every time we can, consume less of it, get rid of uses of gas that don’t make sense and leave it for the industries that need it.”
It was “the big fight that we really have to focus on during ’23,” he said.
iberdrola CEO Ignacio Gallen said he broadly agreed with Starus, adding that he expected continued volatility in the oil and gas markets over the next few months.
“But I think what we need … is, as much as we can, building infrastructure in electricity,” Gallen told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe,” referencing both renewables and interconnection. accelerate.” “I think we’re a long way from what we need.”
They stressed the importance of reducing dependence on third countries and third parties in favor of increasing self-reliance within Europe.
“There’s only one way to do that… is to accelerate our investments in more renewable energy, in more interconnections, in more digital grids,” Gallen said.