Europe Wants Permanent Gas Buyers Club for Post-Russia Strategy

(Bloomberg) -- The European Union wants to make joint gas purchases, a crisis measure to stop member states bidding against each other, a permanent feature of the bloc’s post-Russia energy strategy.

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, is proposing extending the measure to include the purchase of hydrogen and decarbonized gases, like biomethane, according to a document seen by Bloomberg News. It could also include other energy commodities or services, like carbon capture and storage. 

Participation in the joint purchase platform would be voluntary, except in the event of another energy crisis when the bloc could make pooling demand obligatory. It would still exclude Russian gas, according to the document.

“This exclusion is driven by the war started by Russia and its weaponization of energy and the objective to diversify away from Russian fossil fuels,” it said.

The move shows the commission believes the emergency measure intended to avert the kind of energy price surges seen last year, has been a success and provides a model for future cooperation. Two gas tenders have matched buyers with sellers for about 23 billion cubic meters of gas, equivalent to around 15% of annual pre-war supplies from Russia.

Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic has touted the potential of the platform to also buy hydrogen as well as serve as a blueprint for the purchase of critical raw materials needed for clean technologies.

The proposal would be included within the bloc’s Hydrogen and Decarbonization Package, which is currently being negotiated by member states and the European Parliament, according to the document. Companies would be subject to mandatory reporting following negotiations using the platform, but would only have to disclose the volume, duration and counterparts of any deal. The price paid for supplies wouldn’t be included.

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