EU to extend emergency gas price cap for another year
The European Union is set to extend its emergency cap on gas prices for another 12 months to serve as a safeguard against possible energy price shocks, after energy ministers backed the plan on Tuesday.
The EU first agreed the gas price limit in December 2022, after months of cripplingly high energy prices caused by Russia slashing gas supplies to Europe after its invasion of Ukraine.
Europe’s energy security situation is more comfortable today than during last winter — energy prices are far lower, countries have secured new sources of non-Russian gas, and gas storage is near-full.
Related Knowledge Center: Energy security and pricing
The United States achieved net energy independence in 2020, but that has not insulated the nation from the roiling of energy markets in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Europe has been a large consumer of Russian natural gas, and the effort to wean itself, with the help of the United States, has strained markets and endangered global efforts to address the climate crisis.