Wolfgang contributed an article to the Newsletter issued on occasion of the Handelsblatt Tagung Gas 2018 in Leipzig. Wolfgang recalled that Germany had not achieved its national CO2 reduction targets Read more while an effective carbon floor price changing the merit order in favor of gas would have brought this about. The reluctance to embrace the power-to-gas technology avoiding billions of compensation for curtailment of renewable ‘overproduction’ was essentially driven by ideology, since admitting that wind and solar were not demand responsive. Geopolitically motivated objections e.g. against Nordstream 2 and Russian gas at large were misplaced since the LNG revolution had made the so-called ‘Putin phobia’ obsolete.

The article was published by ‘Kallanish Energy’ on occasion of the ‘GasTech Exhibition & Conference 2018’ (https://www.gastechevent.com/) in Barcelona on the emerging global gas market propelled by LNG and the potential rivalry between Russian pipeline gas and U.S. LNG. Further, on the relevance of the recent ‘deal’ between President Trump and President Juncker. Wolfgang indicated i.a. that Europe was ‘open for business’ Read more with 210 bcm/a of regasification capacity 75% idle but that he did not blame U.S. companies one bit for going to Asia fetching higher prices. As to the ‘presidential deal’, he recalled that neither did Mr. Trump have state-owned sales facilities for LNG (or soybeans) nor did Mr. Juncker have state-owned facilities for respective purchases.

GVS had asked Wolfgang once more (see the earlier publication at https://gasvaluechain.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2018-01-31-Gastkommentar-GVS-W.Peters_Final.pdf) to write a ‘Gastkommentar’ (guest commentary) in its monthly ‘Gasmarkt-Telegramm’ (www.gvs-erdgas.de). Due to the high level of interest in the recently published study on the Polish gas market a ‘short version’ in the German language was suggested. Translated into English, the title reads: ‘An open door: The integration into the Northwest-European traded markets would create significant benefits for Poland’. Hence, the thrust of the article is somewhat more conciliatory than the study itself (‘Poland a failed state in gas trading …’). Nonetheless, Wolfgang points out that the truth must be tolerable and also that, with more emphasis on the benefits, the shortcomings and necessary steps to remove the prevailing market barriers must be addressed.

Wolfgang was interviewed by ‘Russia 24’ in Berlin on the state of the European gas market, particularly the arising competition between further Russian supplies e.g. via the Nordstream 2 pipeline and U.S. LNG. He emphasized that Europe availed of ample redundant import capacity (e.g. ~210 bcm/a of regasification capacity ~75% idle) and the evolving global LNG market with meanwhile 2/3rd destination flexible supplies responding to price signals. Hence, concerns about Russian dominance were no longer justified and Europe, in the face of declining indigenous production and rising demand, should welcome all suppliers to compete. The link to the full trailer in the Russian language is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWMtd0SPzLo

In part 2 (‘Es fehlt am politischen Willen für gesamteuropäischen Markt‘), Wolfgang explains that lack of political will stands in the way of achieving an integrated European gas market no matter how many interconnectors you build and how diversified you already are. Particularly Poland is driven by ‘ideological physicality’ disregarding the achievements of fungible ‘anonymous molecules’ freely traded on hubs.

Wolfgang was quoted by Editor-in-Chief of ‘Natural Gas World’ William Powell in an article titled ‘Poland’s Dystopian Gas Market: Analysis’ published in ‘Natural Gas World’ (https://www.naturalgasworld.com/polands-gas-market-broken-62528). Besides explaining his main findings in the Polish gas market study he commented on the recent partial award of the ICC Arbitration Court in Stockholm in the price dispute between Gazprom export and PGNiG. “If you cannot satisfy the burden of proof that hub-pricing is prevailing in your market and your only argument is that I want to have what my neighbors have, you will most likely fail”, he said.

Courtesy ICIS, you can download your free copy of ICIS Gas In Focus, including the article, under this link: https://www.icis.com/energy/gas/europe/icis-gas-in-focus/