EU ministers agree on gas price cap

European Union energy ministers on Monday agreed a gas price cap, after weeks of talks on the emergency measure that has split opinion across the bloc. The cap is the EU's latest attempt to protect consumers from soaring energy bills after Russia cut off most of its gas deliveries to Europe.

Ministers agreed to trigger a cap if prices exceed 180 euros per megawatt hour for three days on the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) gas hub's front-month contract, which serves as the European benchmark for natural gas prices; and the price is 35 euros higher than a reference price for liquid natural gas on global markets for the same period. The measure will apply from Feb. 15. When applied, it will set a “dynamic bidding limit” on natural gas futures transactions for 20 working days.

The agreement received backing from all EU member states, with only Austria and the Netherlands abstaining, and Hungary voting against. According to Czech Industry Minister Jozef Sikela, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, the agreement was the hardest to negotiate to date.