Natural gas: Greek-European price gap widens despite deal with Gazprom

The cost of natural gas in Greece may have been reduced following a deal reached with Gazprom for a 15% discount, but the price gap dividing the country from the rest of Europe remains wide.

The pricing formulae linked to the deal reached with Gazprom has yet to be implemented, subsequently leaving levels of petrol and other petroleum products unaffected.

Following the Gazprom deal, it had been anticipated that petrol prices would fall, prompting a further reduction in natural gas prices for the Greek market. However, these expectations failed to be as a result of the geopolitical developments linked with Ukraine and Iraq that have prompted considerable pressure on the price of petrol, which in turn, has influenced the price of natural gas in Greece.

On the contrary, consumers in central and northern Europe have benefited from renegotiations carried out with Russia, leading to price reductions of petrol by as much as 40%. This fall has also had an impact on the price of natural gas.

At present, natural gas price levels in central and northern Europe – following the renegotiations – are as much as 40% lower than the current price of natural gas supplied to Greece.