A second round of collective European gas purchases, through a platform similar to one established for vaccine orders during the pandemic, has resulted in natural gas orders totaling nearly 12 bcm, well over a quantity ordered during the procedure’s first round in May.

However, the EU initiative fell short of attracting full participation. Second-round orders were delivered to twenty European grid entry points, the majority of quantities at entry points in the Netherlands, France, Italy, Bulgaria and Germany, as well as Ukrainian storage facilities, Sefcovic noted.

“The positive results of this second round illustrate that there is a need and clear added value to join forces, pool our demand and work together to guarantee stable and affordable gas supply to the EU market,” noted the European Commission’s Vice President Maros Sefcovic, who oversees the platform, named AggregateEU.

It was established by the EU following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to prevent bidding wars between fellow member states and utilize their collective bargaining power potential for competitively priced energy supply as an alternative to Russian natural gas.

Approximately 5.5 bcm, or 45 percent, of the second round’s orders, totaling 11.98 bcm, were made for LNG, well over this energy source’s share of orders in the first round, below 20 percent of the total. Pipeline gas represented all other collective orders made through the platform in the second round.

A third round is expected to be staged in September and is planned to be followed by two further rounds before the end of the year.