The price of the Eesti Gaas home package, which hiked in September to EUR 2.65 per cubic meter, will further rise to EUR 4.10 per cubic meter in October, informs Estonian broadcaster ERR.
Eesti Gaas chairman Margus Kaasik said that household gas prices are based on the costs of gas purchased at exchanges.
«Recently, gas prices have been steadily increasing, occasionally reaching EUR 330 per megawatt–hour. There is currently a tinge of optimism in the air as the price has been dropping for a few days, but it is unclear whether this trend will continue,» Kaasik said.
In September, the home package price hiked to EUR 2.65 per cubic meter, up from EUR 0.48 per cubic meter at the beginning of last year.
In the spring of 2021 gas prices on European markets were around EUR 20 per megawatt–hour, but in the second–to-last week of August they reached a new high of EUR 339 per megawatt–hour.
Analysts expect prices to rise again in the autumn due to Gazprom’s activities.
Kaasik thinks that the gas market remains uncertain and volatile, therefore it is difficult to make forecasts about gas price changes. «From the standpoint of European supply security, we believe that the market price is more volatile than is warranted,» Kaasik said.
«The situation varies from country to country, but the winter stockpile has amassed very well. We can only hope that the market will eventually calm down, that the price of gas will no longer be driven by emotions and that it will stay at a more reasonable level,» he said.