German Utility Giant Says The Energy Crisis “Is Not Over Yet”

The energy crisis is not over yet, and the situation with energy supply in Europe could deteriorate later this year, one of Germany’s top utility firms, E.On, said on Wednesday. 

“The crisis is not over yet,” E.On’s chief financial officer Marc Spieker said at the presentation of the utility giant’s first-quarter results on Wednesday. 

“Compared with the current market environment, our forecast also factors in the possibility of a further deterioration in the remainder of the year. We believe we are well-positioned to deal with the volatility that is expected to continue,” Spieker added.

The company’s outlook for the full-year 2023 assumes that the energy crisis is not over yet, E.On said in the presentation of the results.

The utility will continue to invest in transforming Germany’s and Europe’s energy systems as the “current crisis is an accelerator on our path to a climate-friendly energy future,” Spieker said.

This week, Europe’s benchmark natural gas prices extended losses and began a sixth week of declines amid comfortable inventories and tepid gas demand in Europe and Asia.

The front-month futures at the TTF hub, the benchmark for Europe’s gas trading, fell to $40 (36.25 euros) per megawatt-hour (MWh) as of 6:30 a.m. GMT on Wednesday.

Prices have now halved since the beginning of the year after a milder winter, which left European gas inventories at the end of the 2022/2023 heating season well above the five-year average. 

Despite the current lull in demand and prices, governments and analysts warn that Europe should not be complacent and that the energy crisis is not over yet.

As fears of a natural gas crunch did not materialize this past winter, pulling European gas prices down, Europe shouldn’t count on another warmer-than-usual winter and less competition from Asia as it prepares for the 2023/2024 winter, according to analysts.  

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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